


Following the Broken Road Back to You

by exobubz



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M, Rating: NC17, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 03:25:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 31,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3234503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exobubz/pseuds/exobubz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baekhyun's ripped from his world of high fashion and placed back on the family farm where he faces the conditional love of nature and the ex-fiance he left behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sky seemed grim the day Baekhyun received news of his father’s accident, hindering him temporarily disabled. It seemed almost ridiculous (in fact, it _was_ ridiculous) that the old man made the extraordinary request to call his son back to the country side. Baekhyun had made plans to request time off from his job as a professional model in order to tend to his father’s needs for a short while, but along with the request to return home, his father also requested that he take over the family business during the recovery process.  
  
Dirt, dirt, mud, and more dirt. Those were the only things circulating Baekhyun’s mind as he packed the night before his departure. Of course, he found nothing wrong with farming. It fed and gave people something to indulge in during times of heartbreak and sadness, but that life was rather off-putting to him. Running a farm, working a tractor, milking cows, and feeding animals weren’t his thing. It just wasn’t, and it was probably for those reasons that he left at the age of twenty-one, moving out to stake a claim on his dreams.  
  
His actions came about with no soft, merciful sacrifices. When Baekhyun left, he left behind his friends, family, and his first love, Park Chanyeol. Chanyeol wasn’t flawless in his nature, but at the time, Baekhyun felt as though he was perfect. It wasn’t easy to move on, and for the first couple of years, he had to mend his heart over the heartbreak. But it was necessary, in his mind, to lose those things for what he considered as the greater good. After a while, Chanyeol and everything else that had to do with the town that he left behind began to fade in the past.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
As he walked up to his parents’ land, the mud from the rain the night before was beginning to chunk their existence at the bottom of Baekhyun’s boots. He cursed, muttering about how they were completely useless. Just beyond the white, two-story house that sat near the cracked road, was everything that Baekhyun was tasked to tend for the next two months during his father’s recovery. Lifting his nose, he could almost smell the animals and tractor oil in the air. It wasn’t pleasant.  
  
He knocked on the door, waiting on the newly renovated porch with his suitcases and cellphone in hand, which, to his anger, could get no signal or bars no matter what he did or who he prayed to. Baekhyun began tapping his foot, wondering why his parents hadn’t set up a new door bell system. In his opinion, it would’ve made his presence known much more loudly than his feeble knuckles making quiet and drowned sounds by hitting the door.  
  
When the door finally opens, he was met by his mother who quickly unlatched the screen door to hug him on the porch. “You’re finally here! Come in. You can take your shoes off, honey. You shouldn’t have worn shoes like those. Combat boots may be fashionable with those city folks, but they’re like mud magnets around here.”  
  
Baekhyun feigned a smile as he pulled away, eager to move away from his mother’s unintentional criticism of his choice in style. “Where’s dad?”  
  
“He’s in the living room with a guest,” she answered, taking hold of one of both of his suitcases. “Come on, now. I made your favorite dish in the kitchen.”  
  
Nodding, Baekhyun proceeded to bend down and unlace his boots, reminding himself to clean it as soon as he could before the mud crusted over. Leaving his shoes outside, he entered the house he had known for so long and was hit with a familiar face.  
  
“Baekhyun!” his father proclaimed, calling him over.  
  
Ignoring the man who sat close to his father, Baekhyun smiled and approached him, giving his old man a decent hug. “Hi, dad. How’s the broken arm and leg?”  
  
“It’s fine,” his father replied, waving him off with his unbroken hand. “The doc said I’d be alright after a while as long as I stay put.”  
  
Knowing that he couldn’t ignore the man forever, Baekhyun sucked up his pride and turned to his ex. “Hi, Chanyeol.”  
  
The stare the latter gave him seemed blank, yet judging, and Baekhyun could feel the inner workings of Chanyeol’s head inspecting every aspect of his appearance, tone, and voice. As they lightly shook hands, Baekhyun couldn’t stop himself from feeling terrified of the emotions that flooded him.  
  
Chanyeol was different.  
  
Seven years ago there was a certain light in his eyes. Though he had always been tall, Chanyeol then was skinnier and fairer in skin. His smile was always present and the way he touched everything had a soft lingering feeling. Now, Chanyeol was no longer the boy Baekhyun had always referred to in his mind. Gone was the boy for it was a man that held his hand.  
  
The smile that always greeted him and the eyes that lit by the very sight of him were gone and faded. Chanyeol’s face was hard, emotionless, and stern-like as though he had no bearing memory of Baekhyun at all. His skin was no longer pale, but slightly sun-kissed by agricultural work. The baby fat and the scrawniness were nonexistent and what sat before the brunette was a brawny man, arms well-built and toned with hands that were calloused from hard work.  
  
It was Chanyeol who pulled away first, removing eye contact as he speared his attention to Mr. Byun who hadn’t sensed the icy chill and spark that occurred moments just prior. “I should get going, sir,” Chanyeol announced, pushing himself up off his seat. “I still need to check on the roof of Junmyeon’s horse stable, and that needs to be fixed quickly. The storm of the season’s coming in and those horses won’t like being drenched.”  
  
“Ah, well you do what you must,” Mr. Byun said considerately as he watched Chanyeol stand.  
  
“Chanyeol, stay for dinner!”  
  
Baekhyun held his breath following his mother’s request for Chanyeol. He glanced at him, but found that he seemed to be ignored by the way Chanyeol paid him no mind in making his decision.  
  
“It’s alright. I’m going out with the boys this evening, but thank you for the offer.” Chanyeol paused for a second, and then he smiled. It was a different type of smile, one that seemed genuine, but lackluster in life.  
  
“Then, I suppose we’ll see you first thing in the morning, then.”  
  
“Sure thing.”  
  
After Chanyeol left, Baekhyun gave a small, feigned laugh, saying, “He looks like he’s doing well.”  
  
“He is doing well,” his father confirmed, nodding. “He helps out here and there. Usually he fixes things for other folks or helps by being a farm hand.”  
  
Compared to Chanyeol, Baekhyun was smaller, frailer, and softer in appearance. It didn’t surprise the brunette that the man worked in labor. In a town such as the one they lived in, there wasn’t much else to do but physical labor anyhow, which Baekhyun hated.  
  
As his mother excused herself to the kitchen, Baekhyun sat down in the seat Chanyeol occupied, mind running as he felt the warmth that the giant left behind. “Has he been helping _you_?”  
  
“No, but starting tomorrow he will be.”  
  
“I don’t understand.”  
  
“I’m no fool, Baekhyun. I know you don’t know one tool from another, so I’ve asked for Chanyeol to spare some time to help you around with your tasks for a while until you can carry on your tasks by yourself.”  
  
-  
  
-  
  
It was infuriating to Baekhyun how he had to drag his ass across half a country and a muddy road for a job that Chanyeol or anybody in the bloody town could do. He couldn’t understand why they needed him to be there. It was something so far out of reach within his limit of understanding, but Baekhyun bit his tongue back for the rest of the night.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
He was on a diet, but Baekhyun gave himself some leeway the next morning. Although he ate as much as he thought he could without going over his limited calorie count per day, his parents still goaded him to eat more, which irritated him. Physique and appearances were important to him and his profession, and even if his parents couldn’t understand that and he was off the job for a while, Baekhyun couldn’t afford to lose his ground.  
  
“Honey, if you don’t eat, you’re not going to be able do anything.”  
  
Baekhyun appreciated his mother’s concern, but he waved it off, slightly pissed as well.  
  
The alternative shoes he packed for the workload were ones he considered to be accurately proper. They were new work boots bought for a reasonably high price. They were clean with a nice design thoughtfully put in, which made the price much more worth it, but the morning of his first day attempting to learn how to run a farm blew Baekhyun’s fantasies out of the water.  
  
“Those aren’t going to work.”  
  
In that moment, Baekhyun almost wanted to turn around, call a taxi courageous enough to drive to the god forsaken location, and leave. The comment from Chanyeol with the low key negative judgment of his choice in apparel was embarrassing as hell.  
  
“I don’t understand,” Baekhyun said, keeping an even tone. “When I bought these they told me that they’d work just fine for the country.”  
  
“Then maybe you’ve been away for too long,” Chanyeol replied indifferently. They were standing by the barn, meters and meters away from the house, creating a situation in which Baekhyun was determined not to trudge back home through the mud. “Those boots are good, sure, but you’re going to need something higher that’ll cover mid-calf. Yours are only just a few inches above your ankles. It’s not enough.”  
  
Before he could argue any more for his footwear, Chanyeol presented to him a pair of basic, black boots as if he had expected Baekhyun to make the mistake. “I’d change in the barn and leave those in there. You can pick them up later when we take a break at noon.”  
  
Baekhyun almost died at the word. It was only six in the morning which meant he had six hours until their first break. Sucking up his complaints, he nodded. It took no more than a minute for him to grumpily change out of his footwear. For some reason, he felt paranoid about keeping the male waiting thinking it would be rude to do so.  
  
When he came out of the structure, Baekhyun caught Chanyeol’s eyes looking him over the minute he turned around. Nervously, he smiled. “What?”  
  
Expecting a compliment, the brunette was thrown off when Chanyeol asked, “Are those designer jeans?”  
  
Blinking, Baekhyun was momentarily flustered. “Yes…?”  
  
Chanyeol sighed and shook his head. “Next time, find older jeans to wear. Those work, but honey, I don’t think you’ll be too happy when those get ruined beyond repair.”  
  
“It’s after harvest season. What else is there to do, but to tend the animals and trudge around in the mud?”  
  
The expression he received was none too amusing. “There are a lot of things to do in the post-harvest season, Baek. You prepare for the next and you fix things that have broken down and need fixin’.”  
  
“Like what?”  
  
Chanyeol shrugged. “Well, for starters, we’re going to go fix the fencing for the cattle right after we finish feeding the animals.”  
  
Thinking about the task for a moment, Baekhyun thought of it as a petty thing. It couldn’t be that hard to fix a thing or two. A nail here and there would be enough to fix a stupid wired fence that had gone awry in its use.  
  
“Okay,” Baekhyun said confidently, hoping to somewhat keep face in Chanyeol’s doubting presence. “That shouldn’t be too hard.”  
  
There was a small pause before Chanyeol responded, and even then, Baekhyun could tell that it had no commitment to it. “Right…”  
  
-  
  
-  
  
The first animals to be fed were the chickens and it gave Baekhyun the slight hope that feeding the animals was just as easy as he initially thought it’d be. Chanyeol gave him a bucket full of feed and instructed him to scoop it out with his hands and throw it on the ground at various places.  
  
“You’re not going to give me gloves?”  
  
Chanyeol had given him a blank stare. “This job doesn’t require gloves.”  
  
“You know, I hand model sometimes,” Baekhyun had argued. “I don’t want anything that’ll—”  
  
“Believe me,” his ex smoothly interrupted, “I wouldn’t be giving you this job without gloves if it was hazardous to your well-being. I know you’re just here temporarily.”  
  
That shut the brunette up, and once he did, Chanyeol left him alone to grab the things they needed to feed the horses. In his quiet time alone, Baekhyun found the small pleasure of being chased by the chickens, enjoying the attention that they gave him. He, for a moment, felt like a mother hen.  
  
Once the buckets were completely empty, he closed the pen and stood outside, craning his head around to search for Chanyeol. The second he began looking for the giant, Chanyeol finally made an appearance, coming from around a corner driving a dirty and mud-faced truck.  
  
“Come on. Get in so we can get the horses their hay.”  
  
Baekhyun made no response as he hurried to the passenger seat, making squish-like noises as he padded away. He opened the door to the old vehicle and jumped inside. Before he could even put on the seatbelt, Chanyeol tossed him over a new pair of gloves with rubber grips stronger than steel (or so the tag claimed).  
  
“This is the job you’ll need gloves for.”  
  
Glancing at Chanyeol’s hands, Baekhyun asked, “Why aren’t you wearing anything?”  
  
“Because I’m not the model here,” Chanyeol replied.  
  
The latter couldn’t tell whether to take the comment as a genuine concern or a mockery of his profession, so Baekhyun made the judgment to keep quiet. They drove off the Byun’s property and Baekhyun was thrown in a loop.  
  
“Why’re we leaving?” he asked.  
  
“To get hay,” Chanyeol answered curtly. Baekhyun took the answer and left it at that with silence following. However, after a short while, Chanyeol took in a deep breath and explained further on. “Your father buys from Junmyeon who owns land two farms over. Every week or so, he goes and buys a few bales. He says it’s the best, but I think it’s because of proximity since Junmyeon has his own to feed his horse breeding business.”  
  
“Oh, okay,” Baekhyun said softly, moving his attention out the window. “I didn’t know that. I thought dad had his own hay.”  
  
“Used to, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your family’s land isn’t as big as it used to be. Your dad doesn’t have the land to do that anymore.”  
  
“Things change, I suppose,” Baekhyun said quietly. “Like this truck.”  
  
“What about the truck.”  
  
There was something in Chanyeol’s voice that warned Baekhyun to be careful, but he couldn’t quite understand why, so he continued on.  
  
“I didn’t know my dad bought this old thing. He told me he bought a new truck a few months ago in a phone conversation. When he said new, I thought he really meant  _new_ —”  
  
“This isn’t your dad’s.” Chanyeol looked over at him. “It’s mine.”  
  
Baekhyun gaped. “Oh.”  
  
Suddenly, the realization slowly sank in and the truck came back to his memories. When Chanyeol turned eighteen, he had saved enough money to pay for at least half of the used vehicle’s worth since his father promised to meet him halfway if he could manage to do so. Baekhyun had been so happy to share his then-boyfriend’s joy when the giant pulled up at his house. Drawing his eyes to the dashboard, Baekhyun traced his finger on a scratch mark that should’ve been apparent to him the minute he settled in his seat. He would’ve remembered that it was him who made that mark. In the heat of the moment, he had taken Chanyeol’s keys when they fought at nineteen and, in an effort to spite the boy who loved his car dearly, took a key, dragging it across the light gray dashboard, engraving it with his anger.  
  
The front of the truck had the bitter moments Baekhyun remembered, but the back had moments that brought a slight blush to his face. For one, right after the bitter memory of fighting and inflicting damage to Chanyeol’s beloved truck, Baekhyun tried to leave in a dramatic fashion, but was tossed to the back where Chanyeol decided to be the bigger man. Kissing Baekhyun to calm him down was one thing while causing the windows to fog and the truck to rock was another.  
  
Awkwardly, Baekhyun gave a small laugh. “I see, then I guess some things  _don’t_  change.”  
  
“Guess not.”  
  
The conversation ended there and reverted back to the business-like atmosphere that existed before, lacking in personal touches and tones.  
  
When they arrived on Junmyeon’s land, Chanyeol parked the truck outside the man’s house. “Stay in here. I have to give Junmyeon the money for the bales.”  
  
Baekhyun did as he was told, sitting quietly in the vehicle as he watched Chanyeol take the money out from the dashboard and carry it to the white, towering house. A man came out that seemed slightly older than they were, but nonetheless, had a friendly air about him that even Baekhyun could tell from behind the glass windows. He also spotted an interesting thing from his isolated cage, and it was the sight of Chanyeol’s smile. For the first time since they’d met again, it was a smile that didn’t seem forced or for appearances sake. A part of Baekhyun felt jealous and a little hurt at the fact that Chanyeol hadn’t graced him with the same pleasure. At least, in his mind, the man could make things less awkward by being friendly. Then again, Baekhyun supposed that their break-up left little to be friendly and kind about.  
  
He drifted off in his thoughts too deeply that when Chanyeol reappeared by his side, Baekhyun jolted, giving a neutral grin, small enough to seem friendly, but not enough to seem personal. “Where off to next?”  
  
“To the back,” Chanyeol said, switching the truck’s gears. “We’re picking up four this week and we’ll put them in the back.” He stopped for a moment before saying, “It’s good that you’re wearing a long sleeved flannel because carrying them won’t do the skin on your arms anything you’ll appreciate.”  
  
“I’ve carried bale before,” Baekhyun replied.  
  
“You always had other guys help you, remember?” his ex countered. “The seasonal workers would always see you struggling so they’d carry it for you. This time, it’ll all be on you because I won’t be helping you on this job.”  
  
Baekhyun scrunched his brows. “Isn’t it your job to help me?”  
  
“Don’t mistake why I’m here,” Chanyeol answered, running a hand through his hair. “I’m here to show you the ropes with how to help your dad. I’m not here to baby you every step of the way.”  
  
“I merely thought it was part of the package.”  
  
“It’s not.”  
  
Chanyeol drove the truck to the gate leading to where Junmyeon kept his bales. Putting the truck on park, Chanyeol then set the order to, “Hop out of the truck and open the gate for me.”  
  
Baekhyun didn’t want to do it at all, but he muttered his agreements and got out. He walked in front of the truck and towards the gates. First, he didn’t know how to open the damn thing. It seemed complicated and he stood there doing nothing except waiting for Chanyeol to tire of his shit and jump in to his rescue. However, when he turned back around to see if the giant was in the process of becoming weary, he saw that Chanyeol had taken to resting his elbow against his car’s window, watching him leisurely with brows raised slightly high enough to irk Baekhyun.  
  
There was something appealing in the way Chanyeol looked that Baekhyun hadn’t noticed before. His simple white shirt and ruffled dark, black hair gave a type of aura that pulled Baekhyun in, but his attitude and personality, which was a complete one-eighty contrast of the man Baekhyun fell in love with years ago, were off-putting enough to keep Baekhyun at bay.  
  
Deciding that trying something would seem better than standing around with nothing done except head cocking in confusion, Baekhyun began pulling at the gate with all his might, but soon found that the iron structure wouldn’t give. He tried digging his heels into the mud, but none of that was helping him. He either looked very pitiful or he wasted too much time because before he could even say anything to push the man away, Chanyeol had set him aside.  
  
“Never mind. Why don’t you go drive the truck in while I open the gate.”  
  
Embarrassed, Baekhyun nodded. “Yeah. That works, too.”  
  
Just as he was about to leave, Chanyeol kept him back, pulling him closer. “Before you go, watch.” Letting the brunette go, Chanyeol reached behind a large iron pole and pulled a rusted, bent latch upwards. Then with one great push, the gates swung open and Chanyeol gave him a look.  
  
“Keep in mind that most gates have latches, even the ones on your dad’s farm.”  
  
“I know that, but—”  
  
“No, you didn’t,” Chanyeol interrupted. “However, now you do.”  
  
Baekhyun wasn’t done defending himself. “The latch’s location was hidden.”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
It was apparent that Chanyeol didn’t buy into the reason, but Baekhyun was forced to let it go as the man raised his brows and pointed at the truck. Sighing, Baekhyun complied, walking to the vehicle and taking control of the wheel. As Chanyeol stood just outside the gates waiting for him to move the truck in, Baekhyun had the murderous idea of running his ex over, but decided against it as it’d be a bad image for him as a celebrity.  
  
Just beyond the gates, he could see the stocks of bale mounted on one another, ready for pick up by anyone willing to pay for their usage. Setting the truck on drive, Baekhyun stepped on the gas pedal too harshly due to his unfamiliarity, he zipped past the gates, but not without damage. With the wheels geared a little bit more on the right, the right side of the truck scrapped the iron gates and Baekhyun withered at the sound of the eerie damage being created.  
  
He managed to get a grip on his control and step abruptly on the brake, but the consequences were ever present as inertia thrusted him forward. Without having put his seatbelt on, he fell forward in a way that he hit his forehead against the wheel. Baekhyun then cursed Chanyeol for not buying a wheel cover, preferably one that was fuzzy, soft, and cushioned.  
  
Groggy for a split moment, Baekhyun paid no mind to Chanyeol’s anger when the driver’s door was pulled open and he was practically yanked out. “What the hell was that!?”  
  
“Why’re you yelling?” Baekhyun responded, pulling away from him.  
  
“Because you just fucking smashed yourself to the steering wheel!”  
  
Laughing, Baekhyun rubbed his forehead. “It wasn’t that bad. I think your truck—”  
  
Baekhyun never finished as Chanyeol, in his effort to leave before exploding anymore, walked to the other side of his car and gaped at the white streak that decorated his car. “Are you—”  
  
“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun quickly said before adding, “I didn’t mean—”  
  
“Why do you always scratch my things!?” Chanyeol said before he could render the words coming out of his mouth. He didn’t seem to catch the personal reference that seeped through as he gripped his hair with a hand.  
  
“I can get that fixed,” Baekhyun offered meekly.  
  
Chanyeol’s chest was heaving in frustration. Baekhyun wanted to back away and get back in the truck, but his legs kept him stalled in the same spot. After a while, his ex finally turned back to him with eyes that were angry, but for some reason, it didn’t seem as though that anger was directly put on Baekhyun because of the damage to the truck.  
  
“It’s fine.” The man’s voice was rough and tempered. Baekhyun was so unused to that tone being that Chanyeol had never used it on him in all the years that they dated. Even when they were fighting, it was usually the giant who held the calmer and defensive side of the argument, never the side that assumed offense. “Don’t worry about it. Thing’s old anyways.”  
  
“Well, still—”  
  
“Forget about it. It’s not important,” Chanyeol dismissed again. “No use worrying about something I won’t even fix.”  
  
“I said I’d fix it.”  
  
“You can’t.”  
  
“What do you mean I can’t? There’s an auto shop in the town over that can—”  
  
“Not everything is worth fixing, alright? So drop it and get back in the truck. We’re wasting time.”  
  
“Why the hell are you so goddamn pissy!?” Baekhyun snapped, fists clenched by his side. “I’m trying to be nice!”  
  
“I said get in the truck,” Chanyeol said, ignoring him as he walked around Baekhyun to get in the driver seat. “We don’t have all day.”  
  
“You’re being ridiculous, Park!” Stomping over to the passenger side, he ripped the door open as hard has as he could and climbed in. Chanyeol made it a point to slam his door and Baekhyun challenged him by slamming his even louder. “You’re mad that I couldn’t drive five feet without damaging this old piece of shit, but I said that I’m sorry, didn’t I? I said I’d fix it for you!”  
  
“Stop talking. I’m not getting paid to listen to you ramble.” Without waiting for the brunette to put on his seatbelt, Chanyeol stepped on the gas and Baekhyun was thrown back against his seat.  
  
“What the fuck happened to you!” Baekhyun yelled once he got his bearings and managed to belt himself. “Why’re you so mean?”  
  
“What’s with your accusations? You haven’t even spent half the day with me, yet. Don’t you think it’s a little too early to judge someone or is this a common practice where you live? Is it?” Chanyeol didn’t even wait for an answer. “People change when life happens. Did you really expect I’d be the same person from high school or something?”  
  
“No, but I at least half expected for you  _not_  to be such an asshole,” Baekhyun sardonically replied back.  
  
Chanyeol snorted and said nothing more until they reached the bales. He shut off the engine and didn’t bother to wait for Baekhyun to get out of the truck first before leaving him behind to start walking toward the stock. “Put on your gloves. We’re going back to work.”  
  
Baekhyun made no comment. Ripping off the tags and the paper holding the gloves together, he put on his gloves with an attitude that rubbed Chanyeol the wrong way when the latter hopped out of the truck. Chanyeol waited for a few seconds before rolling his eyes and deciding to take the task head on without the latter’s presence.  
  
Bending his knees, Chanyeol took a bale and heaved it up until he was able to use his shoulder as additional support. “Make yourself at least useful for a second and open the tailgate.”  
  
Muttering under his breath, Baekhyun turned back, unlatching the back of the truck. “Seriously, though. You’re not as mean as some of the people I’ve worked with, but you’re still—”  
  
“Will you—ugh.” Tossing the bale in the back, Chanyeol threw Baekhyun a look. “Stop talking and get over there. It shouldn’t take us this long to get the hay to feed the horses. We should already be—”  
  
“You know I can’t carry those things like you can!”  
  
“Then drag them.” His ex wasn’t taking any excuses. “Can’t you do that.”  
  
It wasn’t a question, more like a rude, mocking remark. “I’ve always had help and I can’t. Not with this body. Plus, I’m already tired and—”  
  
“Tired?” Chanyeol whipped his head around. “You haven’t done a single thing except throw chicken feed on the ground and sit in my truck!”  
  
“I’ve argued with you for half the damn time and—”  
  
“Which is coming out of my pay because of the damn time you’re wasting wondering why I’m not the same person you left behind. In case you didn’t hear me the first time, things change. You probably can’t understand that being what you are right now,” Chanyeol said, gesturing a hand up and down at him. “You’re a superficial, prissy prima donna who thinks the world revolves around your little ass just because your face is on every damn billboard and magazine cover in existence. I’m here wondering what the hell your old man was thinking calling you out here to do work that people like you would raise their nose at and sneer at the thought of doing!”  
  
“If you don’t want to be here right now, Park, then you can go!” Baekhyun snapped. “Go to hell, too! That’s where sons of bitches like you belong, anyway. If my father’s paying you to be here, then why don’t  _you_  just do your job without treating me like a fucking enemy. Why can’t you just be nice and civil instead of acting cold and arrogant? Is it that hard? Cause if it is, then you can go.” He pointed to the open road. “There’s a hell of a lot of other guys around these parts that can help me. It doesn’t have to be you. If you need the money, take it. You can take what my father promised to pay you. I don’t give a damn, because I pity you. I pity you because the only reason why you’re irritated and fed up with me is that you’re still a bitter bastard who’s broke as hell without any other income option other than the job my father’s given you. So quit being so—”  
  
“You really think I’m putting up with you because I need the money?” Chanyeol laughed incredulously. “Knock yourself out with that thought. Obviously you haven’t been around to know anything else otherwise.”  
  
“Then what? You’re here because you’re still in love with me or something—”  
  
“I’m here because of your father!” The anger in Chanyeol flared as he started moving towards the bale again, stomping his feet on the earth. Baekhyun followed after. “Like I said, the world doesn’t revolve around you. I’m here because your father needed the help. The money’s secondary.”  
  
“You’re not helping. You’re being an ass!”  
  
“You’re the one who hasn’t done anything!” Chanyeol yelled back. “For the love of god, it’s too early in the damn morning for this. Pick a bale up and shut your mouth.”  
  
“You—”  
  
Taking advantage of Baekhyun’s nearness, Chanyeol reached out, grabbed him by the collar of his flannel and thrusted him in front of him. “Pick one up or I leave you here.”  
  
“You wouldn’t,” Baekhyun sneered. “Not while I’m my father’s son you won’t.”  
  
“Son?” Chanyeol cocked his head and gave an empty grin. “Honey, you barely contact him. I’d hardly call you his son. By blood, maybe, but nothing more than that.”  
  
“How dare you.” Baekhyun’s blood boiled over. Nothing more would’ve pleased him than to sock Chanyeol right up the jaw. It would’ve worked too with their height difference. Chanyeol being six foot one and Baekhyun standing at five foot seven. Doing an upper cut would’ve hurt the man.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol turned his back. “I don’t want to fight with you, Baekhyun. I’m not up for it anymore because I’m done arguing. I’ve  _been_  done, actually. Just quit bothering me and let me do my job. Then I promise you, once you start getting the hang of how to do things around here, I’ll leave and you won’t see me again. Got it?”  
  
Baekhyun said nothing.  
  
“Good.”  
  
  
  
-  
  
-  
  
Baekhyun was given the task of carrying all the equipment to fix the fencing, which meant he trudged along with a large roll of wire and a heavy rusty box full of tools. Chanyeol led the way carrying nothing but a wooden post which he had said that they’d use to replace the old one.  
  
Though the air between them had calmed, Baekhyun hadn’t taken the chance to apologize just yet. He felt awkward just thinking about it, unable to imagine how the words would even come out of his mouth. Silently, he watched Chanyeol from behind as they went about their business.  
  
“So, uh.” Baekhyun stopped himself before stumbling on his words. “What do you, um, want me to do?”  
  
No answer came and Baekhyun didn’t push it. He had already pissed the man off just hours before, but in his defense, it had happened  _hours before_. Chanyeol, in Baekhyun’s mind, should’ve gotten over it. In fact, he was beginning to second guess whether or not he should apologize in the first place when the man in front of him was continuing to act like an ass.  
  
When they arrived at the spot, Baekhyun caught a glimpse of the work ahead of them. It didn’t seem too bad, which was a blessing. A four ft five post had fallen back, pulling with it the wires that were attached to it and its two neighboring posts. The barb wiring needed to be cut and the post needed to be pulled out. All of these were things that Chanyeol already knew.  
  
He set the new post that he had carried on the ground, but Baekhyun kept his own things in arms, afraid the man would bark at him if he wasn’t supposed to set the wiring and box on the ground as well. Walking over to the fallen post, Chanyeol bent over and tested it, pulling it up to see if he could easily carry the thing out of the earth—and he could.  
  
Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol used his strength to yank the old thing out of the ground, tossing it aside as though it was no issue at all. The day had become hot and the brunette could see the beads of sweat beginning to form on Chanyeol’s forehead, but the latter refused to do anything about it. For a moment, Baekhyun wondered if he should’ve brought a water bottle or something for the giant, but he shook his head to himself. It was a silly concern anyhow.  
  
“Hand me the pliers,” Chanyeol said without sparing a glance at Baekhyun. He inspected the wiring, making the decision as to where to cut it.  
  
Fumbling for a second, Baekhyun dropped the loop of wire and opened the tool box. What the hell do pliers look like? He thought he knew being that he grew up with all these things all his life, but he had simply forgotten. However, he couldn’t let Chanyeol know, so he used his common sense and picked out three tools that looked like they could cut something hard. Standing up, he walked over to Chanyeol who was waiting for him with a discerning eye.  
  
“Here.”  
  
It only took a glance for Chanyeol to roll his eyes to the side. “None of those are pliers. Maybe you don’t know what it looks like?”  
  
Baekhyun bit his bottom lip. “I was pretty sure that one of these was…”  
  
His voice drifted off as Chanyeol walked past him and rummaged around the box for what he really needed. When he found it, he walked up to Baekhyun, showing him the tool up front. “ _This_  is a plier. Now watch.”  
  
Embarrassment gave Baekhyun a rosy blush as he trudged along behind his ex. When they reached one of the neighboring posts of the fallen one, Chanyeol handed him the pliers. “Cut it but leave just enough for me to twist the loose ends so it won’t mess with the sturdiness of the rest around it.”  
  
Nodding, Baekhyun cut it at the perfect length. Chanyeol said nothing, which meant he was probably satisfied or he thought he could roll with what Baekhyun had given him. Whatever it was, Baekhyun didn’t get a lecture, so he must’ve done something right.  
  
Chanyeol had him repeat the process until the old post was free of its neighbors. He placed the new post in the spot of the old one and used a large hammer to embed it into the ground until it was sturdy. Baekhyun put thick nails into the posts near it. He was confident with his hammer until he accidentally slammed it straight on his thumb. He bit his tongue in an effort to keep himself from yelling out. However, he did wince. When he looked back, he saw that Chanyeol was looking his way, so he made an effort to smile through the pain his throbbing thumb gave him and turned his back again.  
  
The majority of the work was done by Chanyeol, but mostly because of the fact that he was stronger and that he knew what to do. Baekhyun did the side work, but he had to admit Chanyeol’s leading efforts.  
  
As they walked back to the truck, Baekhyun broke the silence. “Thanks…”  
  
“For what.”  
  
“For taking on this job…” There was caution in his voice. “I know you didn’t have to and you knew that you’d be working with me, so it was bound to get awkward as hell.”  
  
“You don’t need to thank me for anything,” Chanyeol replied, unsparingly keeping his back to the brunette behind him. “Like I told you, I’m doing this for your father. Not you.”  
  
Baekhyun pursed his lips, nodding to himself, because what did he expect? Far too much to be hoped for.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
They ate lunch separately. Though they both entered Baekhyun’s house, Chanyeol took to eating outside on the back porch. He had been nice about it, but Baekhyun’s mother was smart enough to see the discomfort between the two, muttering to herself as she made herself busy within the house about how she knew that the entire thing was a bad idea. Baekhyun hadn’t heard her. He ate by himself in the kitchen and spoke to no one.  
  
From where he sat, he could see Chanyeol’s broad back sitting out just beyond the open back door. At first, Baekhyun’s sandwich was gripped. His fingers dug into his food as he replayed the words thrown back and forth in spite. After a while, a feeling of guilt began to surface. But before he could make amends, Chanyeol finished, stood up, and walked back into the house, meeting Baekhyun’s eyes at the dinner table as he walked in front of him to put his plate in the sink.  
  
When Baekhyun gulped the rest of his sandwich down, he gulped down his courage as well. He expected Chanyeol to speak, to tell him what to do after eating, but nothing came out of the man’s mouth. Without sparing the brunette another glance, Chanyeol walked back outside.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
By the time six o’clock dragged by, the sun had turned the sky to a slight shade of orange and Baekhyun couldn’t even stand himself anymore. He was covered in sweat, tired, exhausted, and dead. No job in the modeling world ever made him feel so drained, but he figured that the fact that his legs were burning like Hell on fire was a good thing. If anything, it was burning off the calories that he got from eating that carb-filled sandwich for lunch hours ago.  
  
Chanyeol stopped speaking to him for the most part after their lunch break. It made Baekhyun feel a little guilty, but not enough to own up to any mistakes that might’ve been his.  
  
As the man was pulling off his dirty gloves and tossing them in the back of his truck, Baekhyun sighed and unbuckled himself from the vehicle, sliding out of the passenger side. There was an awful feeling arising from the fact that Chanyeol wouldn’t even look at him, but then he raised his chin, determined to be unaffected.  
  
“So, what’re you doing after this?” Baekhyun asked.  
  
Chanyeol gave him an unamused look before walking around the back of his truck, past Baekhyun, and towards the front of the house. “Why?”  
  
It annoyed the brunette how the tables turned. Shrugging, he grunted, leaving the conversation hanging as he followed Chanyeol back to his parents’ house. He half expected for the door to be held for him or to be offered to enter first, but Chanyeol let that expectation die.  
  
The house was warm, filled with the familiar smell of his mother’s cooking. Baekhyun untied his boots and set them aside, taking notice in the way Chanyeol made no move to remove his.  
  
“Are you boys done?” Baekhyun’s father asked heartily from his seat.  
  
“Yes, sir,” Chanyeol nodded respectfully, lips turned into a soft smile. “We also inspected the water line. It seemed alright.”  
  
It  _better_  be alright. Baekhyun was sure as hell he was never going to walk along a two mile pipe checking its status in the hot sun again.  
  
“That’s good news. Ah, Baek.” His father turned his attention to him. “Don’t take off your shoes just yet. Your mother has some last minute errands for you.”  
  
Jaw-dropped, Baekhyun’s shoulders fell. “But I’m  _tired_.”  
  
“Well, your mother needs a few things from the market. Can’t finish dinner without it.” His father reached into his pocket and held out the folded piece of paper. “Run along before it gets too dark. The store closes at eight.”  
  
There was sweat sticking to all parts of his body. Baekhyun had no desire to even  _move_  anymore. It was such a displeasure and to go to the store was another pain in his burning ass. He had a good mind to refuse and stomp upstairs to wonder whether or not he should just hire another man to take his place on the farm. It would’ve been easier to do that. Unlike him, whoever he hired would be a lot more capable of working and maintaining an entire lot for a few months.  
  
His fantasies were skewed when Chanyeol took reign, stepping forward to take the piece of paper. He unfolded the list and ran over the items. “Is this all that Auntie needs?”  
  
Appalled by Chanyeol’s implication, Baekhyun’s father frowned. “Yes, but now, Chanyeol, that’s not for you to do.”  
  
“It’s not a problem.”  
  
“Yes, it is, Chanyeol—Baekhyun, where are you going?”  
  
Slipping quietly from behind Chanyeol hadn’t gone as the smaller male thought it would. He stopped in his tracks, just steps away from the stairs. “I’m going to go take a shower.”  
  
“I just asked you to run some errands at the store.”  
  
“Chanyeol said he’d do it.”  
  
Raising his voice to his own child, Mr. Byun pointed at him. “I asked  _you_. Chanyeol’s done more than enough for today for someone who’s looking after you for free.”  
  
Free? Baekhyun’s eyes darted in Chanyeol’s direction, but the man kept his eyes averted, keeping attention to the elder. It came crashing on the brunette the memories of what he had accused the latter of earlier in the day, and a sensation of guilt slipped into his system. Swallowing, he opened his mouth to ask about the matter, but Chanyeol intervened again on his behalf.  
  
“Uncle, it’s fine. Let him off. This won’t be a trouble at all.”  
  
Baekhyun drew his brows together as he watched Chanyeol intently. Why did he lie to cover for him? Probably to make a good appearance. Locking his jaw, Baekhyun turned on his heel and walked to the two men, snagging the paper from Chanyeol’s hand.  
  
“Quit arguing. I’m going already.”  
  
His father seemed pleased judging from the look Baekhyun caught before he turned his back and headed for the door. There was no point in putting on the boots he’d been wearing so he slipped on flip flops. For a moment, he thought he’d make a dramatic exit, but the minute he stepped outside the screen door, he realized he’d forgotten something.  
  
“I need the keys.”  
  
Chanyeol hadn’t moved from his spot, but his attention was fixed on Baekhyun’s flustered self. It took a great deal of effort for the brunette to ignore him.  
  
“The keys to your truck.”  
  
“Truck?” Mr. Byun let out a hearty laugh, and it irked Baekhyun for a reason. “Didn’t you know the truck’s not here right now? If it was, you’d see it on the driveway.”  
  
“What do you mean there’s no truck?”  
  
“I mean, it’s getting fixed in the auto shop,” his father explained calmly. “There was a leakage problem in the tank. I couldn’t have that or else I would’ve just been wasting gas on the road.”  
  
Baekhyun’s jaw began to ache from his teeth gritting against one another. “Then how am I supposed to get to the store!?”  
  
His voice caught Chanyeol’s annoyance. “Baekhyun. Watch your tone.”  
  
A glare was thrown at the taller man, but Baekhyun said nothing to him. He faced his father as he had before. “Am I supposed to  _walk_!?”  
  
“There’s an old bike out in the barn. I suppose you could use that,” his father said genuinely. “Now, it’s the same bike you used in high school, so it may be a little rusty around the edges.”  
  
A cry escaped Baekhyun’s lips. His face must’ve seemed so distraught and desperate that Chanyeol intervened for the third time, stepping over to stand by him. “I’ll take him to the store.”  
  
Baekhyun raised his brows. “Really?” The word slipped out before he could even think, and for once, Chanyeol looked at him when he spoke.  
  
“Chanyeol, I really think that he’d—”  
  
Shaking his head, Chanyeol refused to hear the argument. “Like you said, it’ll be dark soon, and from what I remember, Baekhyun never installed any form of light fixture on it so it won’t be safe for him to come back home if it’s dark.”  
  
The man had a memory Baekhyun couldn’t help but admire. He didn’t even remember the damn bike, let alone the stupid light that he kept forgetting to install when he was younger. Frowning, Baekhyun touched Chanyeol by the bare wrist.  
  
“Just give me your keys and you can stay here. You’ve done enough,” he said in a low voice.  
  
Scoffing, Chanyeol gave him a sarcastic expression, yet he didn’t pull away from the latter’s touch. “After the gate incident, I wouldn’t be doing myself a favor if I do.” Turning away from Baekhyun’s gaping look, Chanyeol gave a nod at the elder sitting in wait. “We’ll be back soon.”  
  
“Chanyeol—”  
  
Both father and son announced his name in unison, but it fell onto deaf ears. With a few strides, Chanyeol was already outside on the porch, stepping off the stairs and walking to his truck. Baekhyun watched him through the screen door, internally screaming in frustration at the man’s stubbornness.  
  
“Of all the people, why did you ask him…”  
  
The question came out softly with no resentment. Instead, it held a tone of brief sadness. Baekhyun’s focused mind was too caught up in the scene to realize.  
  
“Actually, I didn’t. That young man out there heard I was forcing you to come back here for a few months and offered to help.”  
  
Baekhyun became silent. Then, “What does he want in return?”  
  
“Nothing. Didn’t even ask for a penny.”

-

-

Chanyeol turned his head at the slam of the passenger door. He passed on the impulse to make a comment about Baekhyun’s brutality against his vehicle. Instead, he locked the doors while the brunette went on to buckle himself in.  
  
“What took you so long?” Chanyeol muttered, starting the car.  
  
“I had to run upstairs to get my phone.”  
  
“Looks like you also took the time to put on a little make up.”  
  
Baekhyun threw him a look. “I briefly washed my face and dabbed my finger in a small amount of foundation and powder, sure. But I looked like a mess.”  
  
“You looked fine,” Chanyeol muttered, focusing his attention on the road.  
  
“Well, not from what I saw in the mirror,” Baekhyun said, more to himself than the man next to him. He turned his phone on, and after a minute, he sighed. “Honest to god, how do you survive around here, again?”  
  
“Easy. Telephones. Ones that are connected to telephone poles.”  
  
“Oh, ha ha,” Baekhyun laughed dryly. “I forgot how barren of a wasteland this place was.”  
  
Chanyeol shrugged. “It’s not a wasteland to me.”  
  
“It is to me.”  
  
“Just cause it doesn’t have all the sparkle and shine the city has to offer doesn’t mean it’s a wasteland. A wasteland is like a landfill. You know, the ones that large cities like Seoul produce?” The second he said it, Chanyeol knew he was stepping on thin, tense-filled ice.  
  
“I’ll have you know that the city just enacted a bill that’s going to cut air pollution, and hopefully, trash pollution in the next five years,” Baekhyun snapped. It was amazing how quickly the giant could make him angry. It didn’t help that his phone was being an ass as well. “We are well on our way to a better environment, you uneducated oaf.”  
  
“Uneducated?” Chanyeol laughed. “If that’s what you think, then go right ahead. I’m an uneducated oaf who never went to college.”  
  
“You didn’t.” Raising his phone in the air, Baekhyun tried desperately to catch a bar.  
  
Amused, Chanyeol looked over at him. “And you know this how?”  
  
“I just do.”  
  
“Cause you know everything, obviously.”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun brought his phone back closer to him. “No, but I know for a fact that you didn’t. Hell, you didn’t even bother getting out of here and that’s the easiest thing an idiot can do. Leave. Anyone can do it.”  
  
“Leave because that’s the easiest thing an  _idiot_  can do?” Scoffing, Chanyeol’s grip on the wheel tightened. “You have that one right. You left, didn’t you? So, what? Does that make you an idiot?”  
  
“No, I—God! I didn’t mean it like that, anyway!” Groaning, Baekhyun pushed himself into his seat. He went silent until he waved his phone in all places, whining. “Why don’t you do something useful for once in your life and build a cell tower?”  
  
Running his hand through his hair, Chanyeol let out a growl as he made a right turn. “What is it that you need so much that you’re acting like a child?”  
  
“I need to call Kris!” Folding his arms, Baekhyun turned his head towards the window. “He called me a few times before I got here. I figured I’d answer when I’m at the farm, but I didn’t think there wouldn’t be any cell towers around.”  
  
Chanyeol didn’t answer, and like the rest of the conversations, it had a hung ending. Except this time it was slightly different. Baekhyun couldn’t put his finger on it, but the feeling around how it all ended was difficult to specifically point out. He decided not to comment anymore, leaning over and turning on the radio to whatever station could fill the silent void.  
  
When they arrived at the small town grocery store, the sun was half-way gone and the breezy air before had become chill. Baekhyun followed Chanyeol into the store, grabbing his own cart until Chanyeol told him to put it back and grabbed a basket instead.  
  
Not satisfied with being put in the shotgun seat of the task, Baekhyun grabbed the basket from the tall man’s rough hands. “I have the list. I’ll get it. Thanks for the ride. You can wait here.”  
  
“You haven’t been here in years. I doubt you know where anything is anymore, and just like you, I want to go home.”  
  
“Well, you  _could’ve_  gone home when you had the chance,” Baekhyun said, smiling at people who stopped to look at them. Suddenly, he was self-conscious about his appearance. “Let’s hurry this up.”  
  
“Fine—”  
  
Baekhyun’s attention was cut off the second his ring tone went off. Reaching quickly into his pocket, he took out his phone and cursed. “Fuck. A signal. An actual signal.” When it dawned on him that it could go away in any minute, he quickly answered. “Hello? Kris? Yeah, I’m here!”  
  
Chanyeol walked a little faster, and though Baekhyun was grateful at what he thought was the giant trying to be courteous, he wasn’t too thrilled about being left behind. “Uh huh. Well, I’m staying with my parents. There’s absolutely no way for me to use my phone there—or email. They don’t have internet. God knows why…”  
  
They entered an aisle, but Baekhyun was in no mind to be sure what they were looking for. Chanyeol, however, had it taken care of. “No, I told you…Kris—Listen, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened that morning…How am I supposed to know? I called you, too, but you didn’t—Ah, no. No, I called you. You can get in touch with your cellular company and check if that’s what it’ll take to satisfy you…Ugh, alright. Fine. We’ll talk later…A number? I’ll text you’re my parents’ landline. Okay? Good. Bye.”  
  
Looking up, Baekhyun found he had a pair of eyes watching him. “What?”  
  
“Nothing.”  
  
“Then why were you looking at me like that?”  
  
“Like what?”  
  
Baekhyun’s lips twitched. God, he was so complicated. “You know what?  _Nothing_.”  
  
Shrugging, Chanyeol moved along, taking Baekhyun down all the specific aisles for the targeted items. It took no longer than fifteen minutes to gather everything in one basket. It proved to be an easy trip until they reached the checkout lane and Baekhyun turned around so suddenly that Chanyeol had to take a step back.  
  
“I forgot my…”  
  
“You forgot your  _what_?” Chanyeol asked loudly, leaning one ear in.  
  
Growling, Baekhyun swallowed his pride. “I forgot my wallet.”  
  
“What a pity, then.”  
  
The brunette gaped at him. “Please tell me you’re joking.”  
  
“I told your father I’d give you a ride. I never said I’d pay for anything.”  
  
Angrily, Baekhyun curled his hand into a fist and pointed a finger at the giant. “You! You’re insufferable and you’re beyond stubborn! You don’t have a decent bone in your body!”  
  
Taking the weak insults so lightly that it didn’t bother him so, Chanyeol scoffed, pushing him aside as the cashier finished scanning all the items. Digging into his back pocket, he took out his wallet and pulled out a black card. Baekhyun’s eyes were fixed on the god-like status card and looked up back only to see Chanyeol glancing at him from the corner of his eye.  
  
Unlike Baekhyun, the woman at the helm didn’t seem so startled to be holding such a card. And all Baekhyun could do was think “What the fuck?”  
  
They walked out of the store, but Baekhyun actually ran. Chanyeol took bigger and longer strides than he did, adding onto the fact that the man wasn’t carrying any of the things on the list. When they reached the truck, Baekhyun put the bags near his feet and immediately faced Chanyeol.  
  
“You have a  _black_  card!?”  
  
“Put on your seatbelt.”  
  
“I—ugh.” Baekhyun scrambled to achieve safety first. “Okay, now explain to me how you have a black card.”  
  
“Curiosity killed the cat.”  
  
“Whatever. Now tell me. I want to know.”  
  
“Why?” Chanyeol asked, glancing at him. “Why does it matter to you? I’m an uneducated oaf, aren’t I?”  
  
“Yes, but—”  
  
“Then you have no business asking,” Chanyeol said, marking the end of yet another conversation.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
 _“I want to live in a mansion one day. A house where the sun hits it during the first break of dawn so I can wake up every morning with the sun shining on my face. Then I can roll over and wake up next to you. Wouldn’t that be nice?”  
  
“Can’t say I don’t like the thought of that. Where do you suppose we’ll have this mansion?”  
  
“By the lake. Definitely by the lake. I want a big yard that runs all the way to the water, too.”  
  
“Any other requests?”  
  
“I don’t know. Just a place big enough to hold the wedding.”  
  
“You want the wedding to be at this mansion of yours?”  
  
“Ours, Park. And yes, I do. I want every memory made in this house the moment I start my official life with you. Every single one of them.”_  
  
  
  
-  
  
-  
  
Feeding the animals became Baekhyun’s favorite part of his day. After becoming accustomed to the animals’ behavior, he took it even a step further by petting them and picking them up when Chanyeol was off forking hay for the horses because, in his words, Baekhyun was “too weak to lift a big fork”.  
  
Baekhyun had a special liking to the rabbit pen where his father kept approximately five females and four males. He knew that they were often used for petting zoo attraction at town fairs, but he found no harm in pushing aside his duties once in a while to join them, feeling their soft fur and warm-hearted kindness as they ate from his hand.  
  
Chanyeol caught him once. He was angry, barking about how he’d been running around everywhere looking for the him, but after he saw Baekhyun’s attention consumed by the furry animals, his expression softened mildly before he walked away, ordering the brunette to hurry up.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
On the weekend, Baekhyun was alone by himself. Chanyeol had called in an hour after he was supposed to arrive to speak about some business that he had to take care of. Baekhyun was the one who had picked up and immediately gave the man pardon before quickly setting the phone down and ending the brief conversation.  
  
Baekhyun ran to the storage room until he realized he didn’t have to worry about schedules. There was no one to pushing him to stay on task that day, so he figured that there’d be no pressure. After feeding the chickens and the pigs, Baekhyun visited the rabbits before making his way out to the pasture.  
  
He didn’t do very much, however. The cows were grazing the grass in the warm sun assisted by a cool breeze. It was actually a nice day, minus the fact that he had to work.  
  
Sighing, Baekhyun took to the stables to begin pitching hay for the three horses that his father owned for recreational purposes, but found that there was plenty of food. Taken aback, he frowned when he realized Chanyeol must’ve put enough to last the next day over the last time he took to the task. As if to silently reject the man’s gesture, Baekhyun grabbed the iron pitch fork and stomped to the barn where they hay was at. Although he hadn’t pitched much on it, he walked back to the stable and sprinkled it on top of the pile Chanyeol had made.  
  
“My hay’s better than his,” he said to the animals who didn’t care very much as they watched him triumphantly set the pitch fork back against the wall where it had been.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
For moments here and there, Baekhyun found himself thinking about how lonely he was. Physically, that is. In his normal life, the life outside the dirt and the animals, he was never alone. People always tended to him and offered lunch dates and such. He was always so busy that he never had any time to feel lonely for whatever matter. And when he did start to feel a little void, he picked up his shoes and went shopping. Sometimes he dropped by the agency to pick a fight with his manager, Kris, which sometimes resulted in him getting money just to leave.  
  
It was always the frivolous parties that kept him occupied. There were always shows and runways to do that there was never a moment in time to think about companionship. But cracks in the perfect world around him were bound to happen sometimes, and it usually happened on days when he’d open up his phone and find that he’d been added to a group text with his friends about one of them getting engaged or married.  
  
Those were the days Baekhyun would lie in bed until he couldn’t take the sinking feeling in his stomach and the screaming silence in his two thousand square foot condo anymore. Baekhyun called those times his coffee mate days, simply for the matter that he’d go to coffee shops hoping someone would talk to him—hence the “mate”.  
  
By the time Baekhyun snapped out of his lonesome trance, he realized he’d been staring at the dirt for more than two minutes. Even more, he felt embarrassed with himself for even missing the overbearing man who usually barked orders at him and how to do certain things a specific way.  
  
But he couldn’t help it. He was finished with all the things needed to be done, minus the side projects they were doing like fixing things. Baekhyun didn’t know what was broken and what wasn’t. Hell, everything looked broken! But Chanyeol knew, and he usually led the way from one project to another, but he wasn’t there, so Baekhyun just found himself…lost.  
  
Annoyed that his thoughts were drifting to that particular person, Baekhyun walked into the barn and found the old bike his father had spoken about a few days ago. After quickly running through a mental check list of all the things that he’d finished doing, he took no hesitation in taking the rusty thing from its rack, checking to see if it still worked.  
  
The tires were a little flat, and Baekhyun had to use a pump nearby to fix that issue. It was dusty as well from all the years that it had been out of service, so he found an old cloth, wiping the bike of all its dirt. After checking and confirming that the brakes still worked, he rode it out to the house, pushing its stand out so he could go inside and tell his parents where he was off to, which he didn’t even know.  
  
“I’m going around town,” was all he said as he kicked off his boots, setting them out on the front porch and grabbing some worn out sneakers he found in the attic that belonged to him one point in time.  
  
His father put his paper down to watch his son in his hustle, but made no comment or objection. He merely asked, “Are you done with your tasks?”  
  
“Yeah,” Baekhyun groaned out as he tied his last shoe. “I’m going now.”  
  
“Bye honey!” his mother called. “Will you be back for dinner?”  
  
Baekhyun nodded. “Yeah, I will. Bye.”  
  
He waved good-bye, hoping off the porch when he could. Settling into the bike nicely, he felt a sense of nostalgia of his days on that bike. Grinning, he kicked the stand up and pedaled on the earthy path until they hit in the gravel main road. Then, he took a right, heading east towards town.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
Small stores and pharmacies came into view and Baekhyun felt a sense of warmth seeing the place he had grown up in. The candy store was still there, and so was the library that was always ten months too late on new releases.  
  
The little restaurants and café’s with old folks and married folks alike were lively. In fact, it wasn’t exactly as dead and deserted as Baekhyun remembered—or thought he remembered. As he hit the main road that ran through the entire town, Baekhyun began walking his bike along the side walk.  
  
His eyes wandered from glass window to glass window, seeing all different kinds of items on display. It was amusing to see how things had changed so much, and yet so little in the time of his absence. He felt at peace for some reason, and he knew for sure it wasn’t because of the fact that the sun was beating warmly on his skin accompanied by a soft breeze of wind.  
  
It was a nice day to wander, and perhaps that did something positive to his mood.  
  
He was walking along the main road even further when his head turned to look at a little outdoor restaurant. Then he stopped.  
  
Across the street was Chanyeol dressed in his best with a woman sitting across from him. They were eating something— Baekhyun didn’t care enough to see what.  
  
Was it a date? Baekhyun stared at the scene like a third person observer and slowly started to walk away. After a while he turned his head and walked a little faster.  
  
If it was a date, then Baekhyun felt happy that a bitter man like Chanyeol was trying to get at it with another human being that wasn’t himself. That was progress in the making and Baekhyun loved all types of progress! Scientific, mathematical, social progress, whatever. It was good that Chanyeol was putting himself out there.  
  
But of all the places, why did it have to be at  _that_  restaurant?  
  
Not that it was special to Baekhyun or anything of the sort. In fact, it wasn’t even the restaurant Chanyeol proposed in, but the sight was just so awfully familiar.  
  
Where Baekhyun had stood, that was where he had made the decision to break off their engagement.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
Halfway through the main street, Baekhyun hopped on his bike again and pedaled forward, heading due east to the lake that he remembered. He took the main road until he hit an off trail, rugged and dusty. Oddly enough, he didn’t mind it at all. Usually he would, but who did he have to impress by looking clean for? So, he let dust be dust.  
  
Baekhyun followed the road, reminiscing as trees became more and more abundant in the area.  
  
In this part of the lake, Baekhyun built his dreams—or what he thought were his dreams. To live by the water in leisure with the pressures of life far from him was what he often talked about. How he would’ve been able to do that without a truck load of money, Baekhyun realized now that he didn’t know.  
  
He lost himself through the trees, riding on half-mindedly as he went along. After a while, he suddenly remembered that he and Chanyeol had carved their names into a unique tree, far larger than any of the other ones in the area. Like all foolish young lovers, they thought they’d last, thinking reality was but a myth.  
  
Convincing himself that he needed to see this tree for the sake of nature appreciation, Baekhyun pedaled faster, going off memory. He passed all the places where he used to fish. He grinned to himself while passing the spots where he had been forced to skinny dip in his senior year of high school. Every single part of that lake had some sort of ridiculous memory attached to it and Baekhyun would laugh sometimes, thinking about his youthful stupidity.  
  
When he finally saw the tree in sight, Baekhyun felt elated until he felt awed by the development that taken place near that tree. Just beyond the memorable thing, there stood a house and a wonderfully landscaped area.  
  
For a moment, Baekhyun forgot all about the tree and stopped his bike right at the entrance of the house that sat just yards away from the sparkling waters. Rubbing his eyes, he could hardly believe what he was seeing.  
  
A white house, two stories high with pillars almost too grand to exist in such part of the world, was standing proudly where there had been nothing but trees and trails before its presence. Flowers were planted in a beautiful arrangement and was beautifully cut.  
  
The black window panes boldly added character to the home as did the bright red chimney. Baekhyun took in the beautiful house, feeling completely drawn to it. It was like he was staring at the house he had imagined he would have one day.  
  
All the details were done to the touch. From the landscaping to the layout, all the way to the light fixtures that hung above the front door. It was everything he had in his mind.  
  
Too caught up in the home, Baekhyun almost fell off his bike when he heard a voice from behind, calling him. Turning his head back, he saw the face of the innocent man who he had blamed for all his misery.  
  
“Kyungsoo.” Awkwardly smiling, Baekhyun waved as the curious man neared him, dragging along a tiny red wagon in his hand.  
  
“I heard your dad dragged you back here,” Kyungsoo said as he stopped in front of Baekhyun. “Doing a little sightseeing?”  
  
He nodded. “Yes,” Baekhyun replied, taking notice of the dirt and flowers onboard the wagon. “What’re you doing?”  
  
It was clear that Kyungsoo had been out doing some work that day. He fixed his hat and swiped his face with a clean handkerchief. “I’m just doing a little gardening. I have to plant these in some areas. They’re in full bloom right now, so they’re ready to be put in the ground.”  
  
As Baekhyun listened, he smiled. So, the house belonged to Kyungsoo, it seemed. It wasn’t too surprising even. Kyungsoo had always been frail despite his sour temper, and being the son of a lofty man surely didn’t do any harm to anyone. Mr. Do must’ve built the home for his son, and now Kyungsoo spends his days doing anything.  
  
“Well, they look lovely.”  
  
“They are,” Kyungsoo nodded, smiling down at the flowers. “So, how’s life now that you’re off the runway and back on the farm?”  
  
“I got used to it,” he answered.  
  
“You have to take care of your hands. You’ve always have beautiful fingers. I wouldn’t let farm work get the better of that, you know,” Kyungsoo said, looking worried as his eyes drifted to Baekhyun’s hands. “Do you wear gloves while you work?”  
  
“Chanyeol gave me a pair,” Baekhyun told him, feeling slightly uncomfortable mentioning his ex in front of the man who was the reason for their break up. “He won’t let me work without them.”  
  
“Well, Chanyeol’s always been considerate.”  
  
Baekhyun almost snorted.  
  
“Do you want a flower? They’re in their own separate pots so you can take one with you. Maybe your mother will want one?”  
  
“I, uh—”  
  
“Oh, wait!” Kyungsoo let go of the wagon’s handle. “Will you sign something for me? You were on the cover of Elle a few months back and there’s a copy of it in the house.”  
  
“Oh, um, sure,” Baekhyun said, giving a small smile. “I can do that for you.”  
  
“Cool! I’ll be back.”  
  
Kyungsoo left his wagon full of unplanted flowers and ran to the house. Baekhyun thought he’d do the guy a favor and wheeled the wagon in front of the home where a bag of fertilizer and dirt was lying in the open.  
  
While he waited, he looked up towards the entire grandeur of the house, he had to ask himself why Kyungsoo was acting so friendly. For a guy who stole his friend’s fiancé, he was very calm and natural when it came to having a normal conversation.  
  
He wanted to hate the guy that went into the house he had always dreamed to be his, but Baekhyun couldn’t. For fuck’s sake, Kyungsoo was giving him one of his flowers, and for some reason, Baekhyun just couldn’t after that gesture.  
  
Besides, he had already smashed a lot of things after the engagement’s fall out, and it took him a year to stop thinking about it.  
  
Taking in a deep breath, Baekhyun rolled his shoulders, meditating all his angry thoughts away. It was all in the past, and Kyungsoo didn’t seem like the god awful devil Baekhyun used to scream about while gorging himself with ice cream.  
  
After a few minutes, Kyungsoo stepped back outside with the thick magazine in hand and a sharpie. He stepped off the porch and met where Baekhyun stood, holding out the items. “It’s really weird to ask someone you’ve known all your life for their autograph.”  
  
“I would think,” Baekhyun laughed, taking the magazine and pen. “What do you want me to write? Just my name or did you want something else on here?”  
  
Kyungsoo cocked his head and thought about. Then a grin spread across his face. “Oh, I know. How about ‘To My Largest Fan. Love Baekhyun.’?”  
  
“Largest? Don’t you mean biggest?” Baekhyun asked as he uncapped the pen.  
  
“No. I want it written as largest,” the latter insisted. Baekhyun made no more objections afterwards.  
  
“Will you frame this, Kyungsoo? Put it on your mantle?”  
  
Laughing, Kyungsoo shrugged. “No. It’ll be for something else.”  
  
“Don’t sell it online cause I’ll know.” Giving the autographed magazine back along with the pen, Baekhyun pointed at the wagon. “I dragged it off here for you.”  
  
“Oh, thanks! You can take one of the pots.”  
  
Baekhyun really had no intention to take a flower home, but Kyungsoo seemed so eager that he couldn’t just refuse. He carefully chose a flower that wasn’t one of the better plants for Kyungsoo’s gardening.  
  
“Do you think you’ll be able to ride your bike home with one hand?”  
  
“Yeah, it’ll be alright. Thanks for the flower, Kyungsoo.”  
  
Waving, Kyungsoo smiled. “Thanks for the signature. It was nice seeing you, Baek. You look good.”  
  
“It was nice seeing you, too, Soo. I’ll see you around.”  
  
-  
  
-  
  
As Baekhyun was on the final stretch to getting back to his house in the late evening, he was honked at while riding his bike as he’d been doing for the last few hours. Turning his head, he squinted against the headlines of the car following him until the vehicle sped up to keep at the same pace.  
  
“So, did you just decide to give yourself an off day?”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun had a good mind to throw the pot into the car. “Actually, I finished everything.”  
  
“Did you?”  
  
“Yes, I did” Baekhyun said adamantly.  
  
Chanyeol kept a steady eye on the road, careful not to ram into the bicyclist. “So, when I get there, the roof of the chicken coup will be fixed?”  
  
Shit. Maybe he didn’t do everything he was supposed to, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t fix the darn thing in a matter of minutes. The chickens would fine, at least for one night.  
  
“It  _will_  be soon enough,” the brunette retaliated.  
  
The giant grunted before taking notice of the plant in Baekhyun’s arm. “Why do you have that?” he asked rather sharply.  
  
Baekhyun didn’t take to his tone. “Kyungsoo gave it to me.”  
  
Puzzle, Chanyeol cocked his head at him. “You  _pedaled_  your way to Kyungsoo’s house? He lives twenty minutes from town! And that’s if you take a car, Baekhyun.”  
  
Glaring at the driver of the stupid vehicle, Baekhyun couldn’t tell if he was trying to be funny or not. He wasn’t in the mood for jokes. His entire body was cramping.  
  
“Not his parents’ house, idiot.  _Kyungsoo’s_  house.”  
  
“That’s what I said!” Chanyeol retorted, feeling as though he was talking to a child. “In case you’ve forgotten, he lives twenty—”  
  
“Did you hear what  _I_  said?” Baekhyun cut him off. “You’re talking about Mr. and Mrs. Do’s home. Kyungsoo lives by the lake. That’s where he gave me this.”  
  
“The lake.” Chanyeol went silent, giving Baekhyun a hard look. “And what were you doing there at Soo’s house?”  
  
“I don’t know. I wanted to see some stuff.” At that point, Baekhyun was just about ready to drop dead and roll into the ditch on the side. Before Chanyeol could continue on with his questions, Baekhyun braked and waited for Chanyeol to step on his truck’s brake as well.  
  
As expected, Chanyeol jumped out of the truck and started walking towards him. Tactfully avoiding any more questions for the moment, Baekhyun asked, “Are you heading to my house right now?”  
  
“And if I was?”  
  
“Could you drop me off? I’m tired.”  
  
Chanyeol sighed. “That’s because you never eat, and when you do, it’s a portion that’s the size of my thumb.”  
  
Shrugging, Baekhyun let the comment slip. He got off the bicycle, plant in tow, and left Chanyeol to carefully put it in the back of his truck. He opened the passenger side and raised a brow at a manila folder sitting on the seat. Baekhyun put it aside by placing it on the dashboard and settled in.  
  
As he fixed the seatbelt on him, Chanyeol returned by his side, putting on his own seatbelt. “Can’t believe you accepted an entire pot of flowers.”  
  
Baekhyun’s ears perked. It sounded as though Chanyeol was holding back a laugh. “He said my mother would like it.”  
  
“Well, I’m not planting those for you.”  
  
“I wasn’t going to ask you to.”  
  
“Good. Less work for me.”  
  
Baekhyun made a face. “ _‘Less work for me’,_ ” he mimicked, laughing at himself. “You sounded like a child just then.”  
  
“Are you kidding me? That’s how you sound like every day, Byun Baekhyun.”  
  
“No, I don’t!”  
  
“You wouldn’t know. You hear yourself all the time and you’ve gotten used to it.”  
  
“ _‘You hear yourself all the time, and you’ve gotten used to it’_ ,” he mocked, lowering the pitch of his voice to jab at Chanyeol’s own. “Well, you sound like an old man every time you talk.”  
  
Chanyeol hummed, making a face. “I don’t think so.”  
  
“It’s true,” Baekhyun insisted. Reaching on the dashboard, he took the manila folder in his hand and held it. “And what’s this? It was on the seat when I opened the door.”  
  
Before Baekhyun could pry his fingers in the files, Chanyeol took the folder from him and put it in the holder on the side of his door. “Are you always this nosy?” he asked, slightly annoyed.  
  
Baekhyun shrugged. “I don’t know. You wanted to marry me once. Why don’t you tell me?”  
  
When he laughed, Chanyeol didn’t laugh along with him. “Well, you know what? I say you’ve gotten nosier since the last time I saw you. Did you lose your manners somewhere along the way to fame, darling?”  
  
“Manners? If anyone doesn’t have manners, it’s you,” Baekhyun threw back.  
  
“Honey, I wouldn’t have let you in my truck when you whined about being tired if I didn’t have the manners of a gentleman.”  
  
Baekhyun gripped his flower pot, thinking how badly things would turn out if he decided to crack it over Chanyeol’s head. Deciding that killing the driver would consequently kill him too, the brunette rolled his eyes and went on grumbling.  
  
“What were you planning on doing at my house anyways?”  
  
“To check up on you,” Chanyeol said simply. “I felt a sense of duty for your father to make sure that his farm was still intact and not burned to the ground by his senseless son.”  
  
“Oh, ha,” Baekhyun replied dryly.  
  
He pulled down the sun visor and used the mirror to look at himself. Unsatisfied by the mess that he saw, he sighed, knowing full well he couldn’t do anything about it—yet he still tried. Gently putting his hand in place, Baekhyun moved his bangs in all directions until he gave up, growling.  
  
“I look like a piece of shit.”  
  
“That’s harsh.”  
  
Seeing his house in the horizon, Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief. “I just want to take a bath and go to sleep. I never want to wake up.”  
  
“I’ll go up to your room and pour water on you if you pull a stunt like that,” Chanyeol told him. “There are too many things for you to know how to do before you can sleep without me on watch.”  
  
“Oh, I don’t even need you. I did fine today.”  
  
Raising his brows, Chanyeol stifled a grin. “Did you?”  
  
“I did.” Baekhyun said it so proudly, he held his chin high. “The horses really appreciated feeding time with me.”  
  
“What’re you talking about?”  
  
“I took the fork and I gave them hay.”  
  
There was a pause. “Baekhyun,  _I_  did that.”  
  
“No, you did not,” Baekhyun replied.  
  
“So, you’re telling me you went ahead and you added  _more_.”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Shaking his head, Chanyeol let out an unexpected chuckle as he pulled up in front of the house. “Let’s hope they don’t become overweight because of you.” Unlocking the door before Baekhyun could retort, Chanyeol unlocked his seatbelt. “Let’s go.”  
  
Baekhyun took longer to unbuckle himself, so by the time he finished, Chanyeol had swung his side of the car open. “Thanks,” he mumbled, slipping out of the truck.  
  
“No problem,” Chanyeol replied as he was leaving him to open the tailgate to get the latter’s bike. “Good thing I caught up with you when I did. See how it’s already kind of dark out? You don’t have a light on this thing.”  
  
“I didn’t expect to be out for so long,” the brunette defended, holding the bike by the handle once it was on the ground. “I just took my time riding to places.”  
  
“Hn.” Chanyeol lifted the tailgate and locked it. “I think I have a light I can put on this back at my house. Maybe I can bring it in tomorrow or something.”  
  
Baekhyun was taken aback. “Uh, no. It’s okay.”  
  
“It’s fine. Besides, this is your only mode of transportation anyways.”  
  
“I have my dad’s truck.”  
  
Chanyeol stuck his hands in his pockets. “Do you have a valid license?”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun gave him a lopsided frown. “Do you really need one around here?”  
  
“No, but I’ll tell Jongdae to keep an eye out for you just in case you do go around breaking the law.”  
  
Baekhyun caught the smirk on Chanyeol’s face before the man turned away and began walking to the house. “Jongdae’s the sheriff now? Like with a gun and all?”  
  
Snorting, Chanyeol passed on the opportunity to comment on Baekhyun’s childish remark. “Yes, he is.”  
  
“That’s cool,” Baekhyun said quietly behind Chanyeol as he followed along. “But it wouldn’t be cool if you told on me, though.”  
  
Stepping on the porch, Chanyeol looked back to give him an easy smile. “I don’t think he’d listen to me anyways. He always did like taking your side—but that doesn’t mean you can break the law.”  
  
“I can always try.”  
  
“Sure you can.”  
  
Chanyeol rang the doorbell then promptly knocked on the screen door. After a while, Mrs. Byun’s face came into view and quickly opened her home to the two. “Chanyeol! How nice to see you—ah, Baekhyun. Where’ve you been? I didn’t think you’d be gone for so long. What’s that?”  
  
As Chanyeol held the screen door open, Baekhyun bypassed him and stepped inside. “Ah, Kyungsoo gave me a flower. He said you’d like it.”  
  
“You went to the Do’s residence?” she asked sounding curious. “Up north?”  
  
Shaking his head, Baekhyun set the pot near the door as he bent down to untie his shoes. “No, just Kyungsoo’s house further east from town. Did you know he owns a colonial out by the lake? He was gardening there and I guess I decided to talk to him.”  
  
“Oh…” His mother sounded troubled. She turned to Chanyeol. “Were you there with him, dear?”  
  
“No,” Chanyeol answered gently. “I had to meet with somebody.”  
  
“Yeah, his girlfriend,” Baekhyun piped, pulling his shoes off. “Which explains why he’s dressed so nice right now.  
  
The news shocked his mother as much as it did Baekhyun when he saw the pair that afternoon. “Girlfriend?”  
  
“Yeah, I saw her on my way to the lake. She’s lovely from what I saw. I just didn’t expect her to be your type, but good for you.”  
  
With an unsure smile, Mrs. Byun glanced at Chanyeol. “Baekhyun, dear, are you sure you weren’t mistaking that woman for—”  
  
“Are you coming in or not?”  
  
Baekhyun’s question cut off his mother’s own and Chanyeol gave him a blank stare. “I actually just came by to check on Baekhyun since I felt guilty leaving him alone to meet my  _girlfriend_ ,” he said, shifting his eyes to Baekhyun. “But I bumped into him on the way over here so I decided to give him a ride. I’ll just take his bike back to the barn and head on my way.”  
  
Mrs. Byun waved her hands. “No, no. Chanyeol, let Baekhyun do that. It’s his bike. You shouldn’t have to.”  
  
“I’ll put it away tomorrow,” Baekhyun interjected. “Leave it on the porch.”  
  
“It’s no problem,” Chanyeol insisted, letting go of the screen door and letting it shut.  
  
“ _Baekhyun_.”  
  
His mother was jabbing at him with her tone of voice and Baekhyun hung his head in defeat. “ _Fine_.”  
  
He slipped his shoes back on, not even bothering with the laces anymore, and jetted outside, waddling because of his loose footwear. Chanyeol wasn’t too far from him, but Baekhyun caught up with him around the side of the house.  
  
“You’re out to make yourself seem like a saint to my parents,” the brunette accused as he took the bike into his hands. Chanyeol didn’t bother putting up a fight.  
  
Shoving his hands in his pocket, Chanyeol grinned as he shrugged. “That’s an awful thing to say. They’ve known me for years. I’m hardly deceiving them in any way.”  
  
Baekhyun scoffed, kicking Chanyeol below his shin gently. “Whatever.”  
  
“If I go home and see that there’s mud on these, what do you think I’ll do to you?”  
  
“Condemn me and leave me alone?”  
  
“That’s just granting what you want.”  
  
Laughing, Baekhyun snorted, putting a hand to his mouth. “I know,” he said after a while. “But you did ask.”  
  
They reached the barn and Chanyeol lifted the bike back on its rack. He looked around for a while as though checking for anything that had become misplaced or broken in his absence. Once he was satisfied, he walked out with Baekhyun following behind him in silent admiration.

-

-

As Baekhyun entered the chicken pen to feed the chickens as usual, he watched all the birds exit out of their house to eat. All except one.  
  
In the very back of the house, he noticed one lying on the ground. Once he dumped all the feed on the ground, he dropped the bucket and walked closer, peering into the house until his eyes focused and he froze.  
  
He screamed.  
  
In the chicken's house was a gray scaled snake, big enough to strike fear in Baekhyun’s heart. It was clear to him that the chicken was dead.  
  
Quickly grabbing his bucket, he ran out of the pen with the intention of searching for help, but suddenly, he hit something. A second later, he felt arms around him and it took a staggering second to realize he had just ran into Chanyeol.  
  
“What happened!?”  
  
“I—” Baekhyun couldn’t speak. He didn’t run that far, but he was breathless, probably from the panic he felt. “There’s—Yeol, in the—”  
  
“Speak clearly!” Chanyeol snapped, but it was clear that he was immensely worried. He held Baekhyun’s shoulders and pushed him far away enough to look over him. “Are you hurt? What happened?”  
  
“A snake,” the brunette managed to stutter out.  
  
“A  _snake_!?” Baekhyun could see the muscles in the man’s jaw tighten. “Were you bit?”  
  
Blinking, Baekhyun tried to think. Was he bit? Of course not! But the chicken probably was. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I wasn’t.”  
  
It was apparent in Chanyeol’s features that he was relieved to hear the news. Baekhyun forced himself not to think about it too much.  
  
“Where’s the snake? Show me where you saw the snake, Baek.”  
  
Nodding, Baekhyun held onto Chanyeol’s hand and pulled him back to the chicken’s area, jabbing his finger straight at the house. “In there. You see it?”  
  
“Where?” Chanyeol asked, squinting.  
  
“In the back!” Baekhyun opened the pen’s gates and pulled him in. “See? The dead one in there? It’s white. Oh, Yeol, it’s so sad, but how’re you going to get that thing out of there?”  
  
Craning his head, Chanyeol frowned. “I see it… It doesn’t seem like it’s poisonous. Probably just killed it by striking at it. I can see some blood on the ground…” He paused, thinking about his options. Then he let out a sigh, pulling his hand from Baekhyun’s hold. “Go get a shovel.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
Baekhyun immediately complied. He left the pen and ran to the storage house, quick to jumble through all the tools hanging on the side of the walls until he found a heavy iron shovel. Then he sprinted back to Chanyeol, careful not to slip and fall. His jeans would’ve suffered.  
  
When he got back to the scene, he was terrified of what he saw. Right in front of him, Chanyeol was dragging the snake by its tail. They were out of the chicken pen and out in the open field. The snake, in its fury, was making every attempt to bite Chanyeol, but with every strike, the giant dodged.  
  
 _“Are you fucking crazy!?”_  Baekhyun shrieked, hugging the shovel in his possession.  _“What the fuck are you doing!? You’re going to get bit!”_  
  
“Give me the shovel!” When Baekhyun moved as though he was about to toss it, Chanyeol snapped at him. “I said give it to me, not throw it! Come here! I won’t let it bite you!”  
  
Baekhyun trusted him and quickly moved by his side. Once Chanyeol had a good grip on the shovel’s staff, he waited for the perfect opportunity then slammed his boot’s heel on the snake’s head. Lifting the shovel’s end, he stroke it at its spine multiple times until the head became displaced. Then, just to be sure that he had cut through the snake’s flesh, Chanyeol used the shovel’s end to push the body away.  
  
Chanyeol stepped back and handed Baekhyun the bloody shovel, which he held in slight horror. “You killed it…”  
  
“I had to.”  
  
“But why?”  
  
Turning his head towards the brunette, Chanyeol gave him an incredulous look. “Didn’t you  _want_  me to kill it?”  
  
“I-I don’t know!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “I didn’t think you’d… I just…”  
  
Tired, Chanyeol’s chest heaved. “Well, like I said I had to. Whether or not it was poisonous, we couldn’t have a snake around killing live chickens. It could’ve come back if I let it go, and I didn’t want that thing around you. You’re the last person I know who can deal with a snake.”  
  
“They’re just scary.”  
  
“They can be if you’ve never dealt with them.” Chanyeol gave him a long hard look before asking, “Are you sure you’re alright? Didn’t lie to me about being bit, did you?”  
  
“I didn’t,” Baekhyun replied back adamantly. “And what do you care? You’d probably love it if I were bit by a snake. A poisonous one at that!”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol scoffed as he approached Baekhyun, closing the distance between them. “If I would’ve wanted you hurt in any way, I wouldn’t have run out the barn so fast that I accidentally hit the door and injured myself just to get to you.” He raised his left arm to show Baekhyun the patch of blood beginning to seep out from the wounds inflicted by the rough door’s edges. “But if I’d known that the snake wasn’t even moving, just trying to eat its kill, I probably wouldn’t have been so terrified for you.”  
  
It was supposed to be a joke, but it fell short of its humoristic goal. Baekhyun glared at him, but nonetheless, took him by his arm. “I think my mother has an aid kit in the kitchen somewhere.”  
  
“It’s actually under the sink in the bathroom downstairs.”  
  
“Do you want me to help you or not?” Baekhyun shot back.  
  
“Honey, you wouldn’t be helping me at all if you didn’t know where to find the things that you needed,” Chanyeol told him.  
  
Scoffing, Baekhyun’s lips drew into a thin line. “Whatever. Let’s go.”  
  
“Lead the way.”  
  
—  
  
Chanyeol’s physique was something to be admired. It truly was.  
  
From the ground, Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol diligently fixed the chicken house, occasionally handing the giant a nail or taking a cracked piece of wood from him and tossing it aside. Although Chanyeol kept going on and on about how running the farm was to be Baekhyun’s own duty, he usually did the harder physical work for some reason.  
  
Baekhyun figured it was because the man pitied him. If that was the reason, fine. He’d let Chanyeol whack away every nail. It wasn’t like he really wanted to be up there, fixing a house for chickens to pop eggs in.  
  
Shielding his eyes from the sun, Baekhyun found himself bored. He knew he couldn’t just walk away. Chanyeol had the habit of throwing certain requests like “Give me that hammer” or “Hand me the drill” and Baekhyun didn’t know when those were going to happen. He’d also rather avoid the lecture.  
  
There was some guilt in doing absolutely nothing. Chanyeol only took half credit for everything so Baekhyun’s parents were under the impression that their son was doing a fabulous job being the handy man he wasn’t.  
  
Thinking back to the old days, Baekhyun figured that perhaps it made sense. Chanyeol always took the fall for the brunette’s faults and gave credit to him in times when he was the least deserving.  
  
Baekhyun softly laughed to himself thinking back to the time when Chanyeol baked the sweetest cookies he had ever tasted. And when Chanyeol took a bite out of the brunette’s batch, he gagged so hard he cried. Their teacher came around to take a taste, and Chanyeol saw from the look of sixteen year old Baekhyun’s face that the latter was feeling pretty awful about his baking skills.  
  
Doing what any good friend would do, he switched their plates. Chanyeol went home with a low C for trying, and Baekhyun was asked for the recipe, which Chanyeol gave to him, too.  
  
There was also another time when—  
  
“Did you hear me?”  
  
Baekhyun blinked. “Huh?”  
  
“I said hold the ladder. I’m coming down.”  
  
“Oh.” Reaching forward, Baekhyun held on to the ladder and waited until both of Chanyeol’s feet were on the ground. “Finished?”  
  
“Yeah. It’ll hold up for a really long time.”  
  
“Great.”  
  
Holding out the tool box for Baekhyun to take, Chanyeol said, “Can you take this back to the barn? I’ll take the ladder.”  
  
“Maybe I can carry the ladder?”  
  
Chanyeol looked at him and laughed. “I don’t think so. Now come on.”  
  
Taking the box into his hands, Baekhyun frowned. “I’m going to have to do things on my own once you’re out of here, you know.”  
  
“Right, but not today,” Chanyeol said, fixing the ladder down to its standard form. “I’m responsible for you while I’m still here. How am I going to explain to your father if you get hurt? I’d feel guilty, too. So I’d rather you pick up heavy things when I’m gone so I won’t be held accountable.”  
  
The brunette huffed. “You’re only thinking about yourself, then.”  
  
“Liability is important.”  
  
“Hn.”  
  
—  
  
-  
  
 _“Why is this so sudden…”  
  
“Is it really sudden? It’s been fourteen months since I’ve seen you. We rarely talk anymore because I’m so busy. Plus with all my traveling, there’re always time differences.”  
  
“Those are excuses, Baek.”  
  
“No, they’re not. I’m—”  
  
“Tell me the real reason why you want to break our engagement. I don’t want your lies or your excuses. I hate when you dance around the subject because why can’t you just get to the point—”  
  
“I met somebody else.” _  
  



	2. part ii

“Okay. So, I’ve been thinking,” Baekhyun started as he set his plate on the porch floor to sit where Chanyeol usually sat alone and by himself. His presence wasn’t unwelcomed, but it was expected by the way Chanyeol reacted. “About that black card, actually. Are you in the black market? I have a few questions about the illicit trade of certain illegal items, because—”  
  
“Will you ever stop being so nosy?”  
  
Baekhyun drew his brows together intently. “I’m just  _asking_  so I understand. My dad told me you’re not getting paid at all to come over here every day to help me. Obviously it’s because you  _have_  money. I just want to know—”  
  
Chanyeol cocked his head, holding the sandwich in his hand loosely. “I did tell you I was doing this to help out your father, right? I mentioned it to you a lot.”  
  
Skeptical, but lenient, Baekhyun let his suspicion on that matter die for the moment. “Yes, but the money, Chanyeol. I want to know.”  
  
“Are you honestly dying to know?”  
  
“Yes!” Baekhyun almost screamed it. He restrained himself.  
  
Snorting, Chanyeol looked away for a second. “Take a bite of your sandwich and I’ll tell you. You’re skinny as hell and you barely eat any breakfast.”  
  
Begrudgingly, Baekhyun opened his mouth and took a third of the sandwich in his mouth. Although he hadn’t swallowed yet, he couldn’t wait, muffling out, “So?”  
  
Chanyeol paused, giving him an amused look before the teasing play in his eyes died a fraction of its total gleam. Then, he shrugged. “I married a rich girl. She took an interest in me, and she wasn’t bad looking. What did I have going for me anyways? I don’t know if you heard, but my father’s lot went into foreclosure a long time ago. So, I married her. Not for her, really. Her money, more like.”  
  
In the beginning, Chanyeol seemed like a stranger. But as the days went by, Baekhyun began to become acquainted with his attitude and speech, finding familiar traits between the man and the boy he once knew. But, in that moment, Baekhyun was at a loss.  
  
Quickly, he swallowed his bite and paused in silence for a moment. Then he asked, “You’re…married?”  
  
The word came choking out and Baekhyun found that he couldn’t hold his meager sandwich. So he put it down on his plate.  
  
“No, she decided she didn’t like me. Decided to divorce after two years and gave me a settlement. Said she felt sorry for me, but I didn’t care. She gave me more than what I needed so that’s what I live off of now.”  
  
There have been plenty of times when Baekhyun found himself fuming in anger towards the man who sat beside him, but none of those times compared. The swelling taking place inside of him was much more dangerous, and it was because of the fact that Baekhyun was genuinely, and completely, angry for a reason he couldn’t explain without sounding like a big, fat idiot.  
  
He wanted to know things past the card. The question in his mind was “why?”  
  
Why had Chanyeol settled for someone? According to his story, it was because he had no choice, but that wasn’t the man Baekhyun knew—or used to. Despite hardships, Chanyeol was able to pull through anything, never settling for less than what he deserved. Was that time so bad that it crippled him?  
  
It was infuriating. Baekhyun sat there, void of anything else but himself and his own anger. Who was this girl? Scratch that, why did Chanyeol marry her? Why did he waste such a precious thing on someone he just confessed he wasn’t even remotely attracted to? He married her for money rather than love? The subtly romantic man from years ago wouldn’t have agreed to marry someone for such a motive, so why?  
  
Baekhyun hurt. He knew that for sure. What he felt was beyond what he was justified to feel. Part of him was angry that Chanyeol wasted away his first marriage, but another part of him felt like dying at the thought that Chanyeol hadn’t used his first marriage on  _him_.  
  
It was a silly thought. Why it ever surfaced was a wonder, but Baekhyun couldn’t lie to himself. He had no idea why he gave a damn about the fact Chanyeol _married_. He cared more about that than the actual divorce.  
  
Hiding his feelings was one thing. It was another to completely tuck them away.  
  
Chanyeol reached for him, barely grazing his hand against Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Are you okay there?”  
  
Baekhyun’s lips failed to function. He swallowed only to feel the dryness in his throat. Nodding, he responded physically, unable to do so verbally. Averting his eyes to the ground, he failed to notice Chanyeol’s concerned look before the giant fully took hold on his shoulder, pushing him so that the brunette’s face was clear in his view.  
  
“Are you  _crying_?”  
  
Slapping Chanyeol’s hand away, Baekhyun shot up, taking his plate with him. “No,” he sharply said, trying to escape back into the house.  
  
Chanyeol was jerked from his composure. He went after the escaping brunette, leaving behind his plate and the sandwich that fell onto the ground. Throwing open the screen door, he stepped inside, marching into the kitchen where Baekhyun had disappeared to.  
  
“Tell me what you’re crying about, Byun.”  
  
It seemed like an order rather than a comforting gesturing. Baekhyun dumped his plate into the sink, shoving the half-eaten sandwich in the trash can.  
  
“I’m not crying about anything, you blind bat.” As he was washing his hands under the running faucet water, Baekhyun made sure to do quickly. “Where’s your plate?”  
  
“Don’t change the subject,” Chanyeol bellowed, determined to keep Baekhyun from evading him. He stood by the kitchen island, but began walking slowly over to the sink area. Baekhyun’s territory. “You’re sad about something. What? What’re you sad about?”  
  
“Nothing!” Baekhyun snapped. God, how thankful he was to have the house empty with his father and mother out for an appointment with Doctor Kim. Slapping the faucet off, Baekhyun walked the other way around the island. Though he knew Chanyeol would do nothing if he ever caught him, it was the threat of what Chanyeol  _could_  do that frightened him.  
  
“Are you crying because I got married?”  
  
The question kept Baekhyun from leaving out the back door. His body froze and his heart raced. Unbeknownst to him, he wasn’t the only one rendered frozen by the question. Chanyeol stood behind him, craving an answer as he watched the shoulders of the brunette tense.  
  
“Are you sad because I got married to someone who wasn’t you—”  
  
Baekhyun’s sorrow-filled rage blew. “I’m not sad, I’m angry, you senseless idiot!” he yelled, turning on his heel and striding towards Chanyeol’s peering height. Taking a finger, Baekhyun first jabbed him before the act escalated and he was slapping Chanyeol’s broad chest with his fair hands. “Why would you do that!? How could you!? How could you marry someone you didn’t even love? You married her for money? Oh, fuck you, Park! Fuck you to hell!”  
  
Chanyeol grabbed his wrists and held on tightly as the latter struggled against his hold. “For fuck sake, calm down—”  
  
When one of his hands broke free from the hold, Baekhyun took the opportunity given to him. He slapped Chanyeol. “What’re you? An animal? Why would you do that? You took marriage vows for love and commitment because you wanted to get  _paid_ , Chanyeol. How could you do that to something so precious? What about love?”  
  
“What about love?” Chanyeol repeated incredulously. “Baekhyun, let’s face it. In the real world, that’s shit. Every fucking thing about love and marriage is absolute crap. Is it so hard to believe that people marry for other interests? She wanted to marry me for looks, and I wanted her money. People make compromises all the time. Why’re you so god damn overly dramatic about it?”  
  
“Of course some people marry for money!” Baekhyun stepped back with every advancing step Chanyeol took. “But not you! Weren’t you the one going on and on in high school talking about how love should be the basis of every relationship!?  _That’s_  Chanyeol.”  
  
“When will you realize that you’re stuck in the past?” Chanyeol said. It came out harshly, but it dripped of subtle hurt. “That kid died when you left here. He  _died_ when you came back after a year in Seoul to break off your engagement and flaunt your new fucking boyfriend in his face.” He paused. “So whether I married for money or not is none of your business. You don’t get to talk to me about how relationships should be when you’re the one who abandoned everything… At least this girl left me with money after our divorce. The one who would’ve been my first spouse left me before we even got to the damn altar. And him? He didn’t leave me with anything. No money, no land. Nothing. Just an engagement ring. A ring that was a slap on the face.”  
  
Baekhyun’s lips wobbled. He felt angry and hurt, all mixed into one fuming burst of uncontrollable emotion. Chanyeol’s eyes were searching through his. What they were trying to find out, Baekhyun didn’t know, but they made him feel helpless. He had to fight back.  
  
“I had a reason for that, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said. His voice was soft, but it quickly gained steel. “I’m sorry, but I had a reason for that and for everything else I did in the past.”  
  
“Oh, I know,” Chanyeol snapped harshly. “It was because you ‘met somebody’. I remember your  _reasons_  clearly, honey. You don’t need to reopen closed wounds, because the scars are there to remind me.”  
  
His fists were clenched so hard, they were drained of color. Baekhyun was shaking. “ _I_  didn’t meet someone, Chanyeol. You did.”  
  
 _“Me!?”_  Chanyeol made a grab for Baekhyun’s wrist, but the brunette swerved to the side, walking straight to the back door again.  _“Byun Baekhyun, if this is one of your stupid games where you try and blame me for everything, then god damn you—”_  
  
Baekhyun shut the screen door behind him. He could hear Chanyeol curse behind him followed by the crackling of the screen as it shut again.  
  
“Tell me!” Chanyeol yelled it at the top of his lungs. He dug his heels to the ground, determined not to chase after, hoping that Baekhyun would stop and look at him. And he was right.  
  
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said. His voice was beginning to lose its toughness. “Let’s drop it.”  
  
Gritting his teeth, Chanyeol let out a frustrated growl. “You can’t just say to drop it right after you say something completely wrong!”  
  
“Can’t we just go back to work!?”  
  
“No! You told me you met somebody else!” For the first time, Chanyeol’s voice cracked. Baekhyun’s eyes widened, but the man in front of him seemed unaffected by his show of weakness. “You said you didn’t love me anymore. Do you fucking remember that!?  _‘Long distance relationships never work out and it’s not working for me anymore.’_  Does that ring a bell to you!?”  
  
It did. All of it did, but not for the same reasons Chanyeol remembered. “I had reasons,” he said meekly. “I had them.”  
  
“You keep saying that and all I’m thinking is how that’s complete  _bullshit_!” He walked straight towards Baekhyun, but the brunette stood his ground as the latter approached. “And now you have the fucking nerve to turn the tables out on  _me_!? You have some guts, I can tell you that.”  
  
“It’s true.”  
  
“What’s true?”  
  
“You met someone. I know for a fact that that’s true, because I saw you…” Baekhyun didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He was beginning to hyperventilate. It had been  _years_! And yet, everything was pouring as though it were all events of yesterday. “I decided to surprise you eight months after I left. I had some time after Milan so I went back to Korea and I came down here… Then I just saw you. With him…”  
  
Chanyeol’s eyes revealed his confusion. His anger, slightly defused. “What’re you talking about… I never—”  
  
“You were practically on him…” Baekhyun took in a breath. “Then I saw it. You kissed him. I saw it… It happened right in front of me. I was across the street from that restaurant you were at with that woman days ago. That’s where you were, Chanyeol, and that’s where I was. That’s the spot where we ended.”  
  
He was shaking, hand on his forehead just seconds away from grabbing a hold of his hair in frustration. “Can we  _please_  just stop?” he pleaded. “I don’t want to think about that moment. I don’t want to think about it at  _all_.”  
  
Chanyeol stood with his shaking fists. “Well, I don’t give a fuck about what you think. I want to talk about it right now.”  
  
“It’s been years!”  
  
“Exactly! For years I let you go thinking I was fucking fine just as long as  _you_  were happy! And now you’re telling me that after all this time, you  _lied_  back then!? And that  _I’m_  the reason!? I never kissed anybody!”  
  
“You kissed Kyungsoo, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun told him. “Or did you forget that already?”  
  
In that moment, Chanyeol’s forward rage ceased. His shoulders slumped and he took a step back. Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol’s face contorted into an expression of blank confusion and he couldn’t determine what all of that meant.  
  
“I never kissed him, Baekhy—”  
  
“Yes, you did!” Baekhyun was so angry, he could feel his throat beginning to dry. “You did, too, Chanyeol.”  
  
Frustrated, Chanyeol put his hands on his waist, jaws locked. Baekhyun could see his entire body tense. “This isn’t over,” he muttered before turning on his heel and walking away.  
  
“Where are you going?” Baekhyun asked in a strained voice.  
  
He waited, but the answer never came, and he stood there, watching Chanyeol leave the premises. There wasn’t a reason to explain why his heart sank when he heard the man get in his truck, or why he felt so empty and unfinished with the fading sound of the vehicle.  
  
Alone, he finally felt the first drop of salty water drop from his eye. Quickly, Baekhyun wiped it off, calling it a day as he walked back into his house, retiring to his bed where he screamed into his poor mattress as he did years ago.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
The next day, Chanyeol didn’t make an appearance. Or the next day after that. By the time the fourth day rolled around, Baekhyun pushed all thoughts of him aside and he stopped waiting for the man to appear from the horizon with that stupid, stupid truck.  
  
The animals were all happy except for the horses. With no one to remind him, the hay supply had run out. Taking his dad’s truck, which was  _so_  much better and nicer than Chanyeol’s own, he drove over to Junmyeon’s farm and paid upfront for four bales.  
  
Carrying it all by himself was like slave labor. How Chanyeol even managed to lift it up to his shoulders, Baekhyun would never know because he refused to think about the masculine man at all. After thirty minutes passed and all of it was loaded on, Baekhyun felt a sense of pride.  
  
He found that he  _could_  do things all by himself. All he needed to do was do everything like Chanyeol would and—Baekhyun stopped himself. He wasn’t supposed to think about him. Not him. Not the tall and handsome man who would’ve been his husband. Not the dork he once was or the annoying, demanding overseer that he was then. Anything that had to do with him was off limits, but Baekhyun couldn’t stop it all.  
  
There was an urge to hit his head on the steering wheel, but that’d mean losing control of the truck and possibly dying, and Baekhyun didn’t want to die for  _him_ …At least not in that way—Baekhyun screamed at himself, stepping on the gas pedal even harder. What did he mean at least not in that way? He didn’t want to die for Chanyeol in  _any_  way! To hell with that guy!  
  
Baekhyun kept muttering curses to himself under his breath until he reached the house where for a split second, his anger died at the sight of Chanyeol’s truck parked on the side of the road. Then it spiked again. If he could, he would’ve rammed his father’s truck into that trash, but that would do nothing except bite him on the ass.  
  
He drove the truck onto the property, steering it towards the barn, but just as he was about to pass, his father and Chanyeol stepped out on the porch. His old man waved at him to stop, and Baekhyun was irritated. Didn’t the man have any sense!?  
  
Rolling down his window, he tried to keep his voice neutral, pretending as though Chanyeol wasn’t standing near his father. It was a difficult task considering he was about a foot taller. “What?”  
  
“Chanyeol’s here!”  
  
Baekhyun could  _see_  that perfectly fine. If his father wasn’t on crutches on anymore, the brunette would’ve been out of there quicker than a lightning strike.  
  
“Okay? So what?” he yelled back.  
  
“He’ll take care of those bales for you.”  
  
Chanyeol was stepping off the porch and walking towards him. Was there an option to switch into reverse and maul him over? Baekhyun was tempted.  
  
“I can do it by myself. You can tell him to go home!”  
  
Much to his disappointment, his father couldn’t sense his irritation or the electrical tension between him and the man approaching the truck. That or the old man was ignoring it. If so, curse him, too.  
  
As Mr. Byun hobbled back into his home, Baekhyun stepped on the gas and left Chanyeol behind. The distance wasn’t very far however, so by the time he turned off the engine and jumped out, Chanyeol had reached the end of the truck.  
  
Baekhyun had no intention of accepting his help, however. When Chanyeol moved to unlatch the tailgate, Baekhyun slapped his hand and pushed him aside. “I can do it.”  
  
“Fine,” Chanyeol conceded, sounding in no mood to fight anymore. “I’ll take the bales.”  
  
“ _No._ ” Sending a glare in his direction, Baekhyun frowned, making sure Chanyeol knew that he was serious. “I don’t need your help. I’ve been doing fine without you.”  
  
There was a point to be made, but Baekhyun failed executing his proof when he tugged on the first bale and made no progress. Without waiting for permission, Chanyeol gently moved him to the side and heaved the bale. Reluctantly, Baekhyun kept his lips shut and opened the barn doors to make himself useful.  
  
One by one, Chanyeol took care of the job, and Baekhyun was left to no devices. He waited in the barn, uselessly counting bale after bale to occupy his mind so they wouldn’t inevitably revert back to the giant. His back was turned against the door, in rebellion to seeing Chanyeol’s face and everything that had to do with him physically.  
  
“This is the last one,” Baekhyun heard from behind him. Following after, he heard the thud of the bale hitting the ground.  
  
Crossing his arms, he sighed. “Okay,” he sighed, rubbing his eyes as he turned around. “You can—”  
  
Coming to an immediate halt, Baekhyun was met with the unexpected situation of being faced just inches from Chanyeol’s lean body. The minute he raised his eyes, he knew he had made a mistake. “What?”  
  
He knew he should’ve ran when he felt Chanyeol’s rough hand gently caress the side of his face; screamed when the man dragged his thumb along his bottom lip. But Baekhyun didn’t.  
  
“Baek…”  
  
Chanyeol’s lips were soft against his. Caught by a whirlwind of emotions, Baekhyun had no mind to fight the minute he felt the warm contact. He felt himself leaning into Chanyeol’s touch, melting as he felt a hand travel down his back, gently, but firmly holding him by the waist and pulling him in closer.  
  
Slanting his head, Chanyeol deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue easily past Baekhyun’s willing lips. Baekhyun groaned, moving his hands on Chanyeol’s neck, practically enticing the man to edge closer. Their bodies were pressed onto one another’s, and Baekhyun was almost sure he would’ve fallen to the ground if Chanyeol wasn’t keeping him up.  
  
It was all in bliss and the moment was sweeter than anything Baekhyun had ever experienced in the course of his time alone, but when the need for arose, his mind clicked and he slowly began to pull away, resting the palm of his hands on Chanyeol’s chest.  
  
Chanyeol didn’t push him, granting his silent wish to stop, but he understood by the lack of force given to him that Baekhyun wasn’t about to push him away as though nothing had happened. His heart beat was pulsing at a faster rate than he could fully realize. Broken and uneven, his breathing was as erratic as his heart. Closing his eyes, he lowered his head against the curve of Baekhyun’s neck, holding onto the small brunette as securely and gently as he could.  
  
Moments passed without a word said, but Baekhyun felt no sort of embarrassment or regret. He did, however, feel the disappointment in him rise as he quickly came to terms with how easily and hastily he gave into the passion, but it did not last long.  
  
“Come to my house.” The giant’s voice was husky, low and luring. Baekhyun could feel the vibrations from that deep alto tone, and he bit his bottom lip. “Tomorrow. We’ll take a day off and ride my horses. We can just talk. We don’t have to argue…”  
  
Baekhyun swallowed. “Chanyeol, I don’t know…”  
  
“Please.”  
  
Moaning, Baekhyun shut his eyes. He held Chanyeol by the shoulder but made no move to push his suckling lips away from his neck. “Okay,” he gasped, letting go and clinging to the man’s thin white shirt. “Tomorrow…”  
  
Satisfied, Chanyeol lifted his head and planted a kiss on the edge of Baekhyun’s lips. “Let’s get out of here. There are still a lot of things to do.”  
  
As Chanyeol began pulling away, Baekhyun sighed, dropping his arms. “Alright…”  
  
Following the man out of the barn, Baekhyun straightened his posture and clothes as if reverting back the event that just happened. Chanyeol opened the driver side and waited for the latter to catch up. “I’ll head back and check up on the fencing near the end of the property. Go park your father’s truck back in the driveway.”  
  
Nodding, Baekhyun followed his orders. He tried to go about it professionally as they once were, but Chanyeol’s gaze broke his trial. “Be careful.”  
  
At that, Baekhyun scoffed. “Okay,” he said rather sarcastically before adding a genuine, “I will.”  
  
-  
  
-  
  
For the remainder of the day, Baekhyun felt as though he was walking on multiple clouds, hop scotching time until it was the following morning afterwards. It slipped his mind all of Chanyeol’s faults until the afternoon as he waited for Chanyeol to come around and pick him up.  
  
What was he doing with his ex? The question floored him, and the giddiness of the kiss that happened the day before staggered. Baekhyun questioned why he seemed so happy and excited for the man that broke his heart all those years ago. He should’ve trashed the feelings that were rising from their ashes, but he couldn’t. It was a simple fact of the matter that he couldn’t, and Baekhyun felt himself weak and unbending to his own will.  
  
It was all about chances, and chances were meant to be given. The fact that he was standing on that porch waiting said something about his choices, and Baekhyun found that he was willing to just  _talk_  without fighting and arguing over arrogance and pride.  
  
He saw Chanyeol’s truck coming from the east and he began walking back and forth until the man parked along the side. Before Chanyeol stepped out of his vehicle, Baekhyun unconsciously fixed the bangs of his hair and the thin unbuttoned flannel that he wore openly.  
  
Walking down the steps, he smiled as Chanyeol opened his side of the door. “Good afternoon.”  
  
“The weather could be a little bit nicer, but yeah. Good afternoon to you.”  
  
Baekhyun could’ve punched him for that killer grin. All those times when he wondered how it’d feel to have the stone-faced man  _smile_  at him were not in vain. The moment was rapturing.  
  
“So, horseback riding?”  
  
“Yep. You and me and the great outdoors.”

-

-

Baekhyun found himself staring out the window half the time, unable to gather himself well enough to strike up a conversation. He  _had_ turned on the radio, but even the music couldn’t rip him away from being aware of what was going on.  
  
There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but decided to hold off on all for when the time was right. When he glanced over at Chanyeol, the man didn’t seem fazed at all by their silence. It seemed as though he was lost in his own deep thought, and for a second, Baekhyun was jealous that at least one of them was able to distract themselves.  
  
The clouds were gray with a darker shade out in the horizon, and Baekhyun wondered if the bleak weather would hold up long enough for them to go horseback riding without becoming drenched. He had the slight hope that all would be well, however. There was a trust that he had with Chanyeol despite their constant arguments. If there was anything to be done that concerned animals or infrastructure, Chanyeol could handle it.  
  
They drove through the town the same way Baekhyun had ridden his bike through it before, but when the brunette looked over, he saw the way Chanyeol’s eyes stayed glued at the restaurant that was mentioned in their extremely heated argument. For a moment, Baekhyun wanted to open his mouth and say something, but he had no idea what.  
  
As they moved on, Baekhyun began to imagine what Chanyeol’s home looked like. He imagined something nice, perhaps even the house he won with his ex-wife’s settlement. She was rich, wasn’t she? Then that meant Chanyeol was well off.  
  
Pressing his head against the glass window, Baekhyun fought with himself. Again and again, he wondered why that woman came up in mind again, but he knew exactly why he felt slightly angry again. It was all directed at Chanyeol’s decision to even get married without a romantic cause, but Baekhyun kept still, attempting to remind himself that it was all in the past.  
  
But if it was all in the past, why did he care so much? Baekhyun held his breath. Maybe he cared beyond the fact that it was a loveless marriage. If it was even possible, he wondered if he cared because he wasn’t Chanyeol’s first.  
  
A sensation of defeat washed over him, but Baekhyun was pulled out of his sulky mood when he opened his eyes and was greeted by the familiar sight of the Kyungsoo’s colonial home. Frowning, he glanced at Chanyeol as if nonverbally asking him what business they had there.  
  
Chanyeol missed the non-spoken message and shut his truck’s engine off when he pulled right in front of the house. “We’re here.”  
  
Giving him a puzzled look, Baekhyun frowned as he slowly unclicked his seatbelt. “But this is Kyungsoo’s house?”  
  
Snorting, Chanyeol got out from his side and shut the door, promptly walking around the front of his truck to open Baekhyun’s side. “Actually, it’s mine.” Helping the star struck brunette out, Chanyeol exhaled. “This is why you’re here. So we can talk.”  
  
“Well, I can see why!” Baekhyun piped as Chanyeol closed his door. “You didn’t correct me when I said that this was Soo’s house!”  
  
“I did just now.”  
  
“Not before!”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol led the way, following a small dirt path that led past the house and to the back. The entire place was larger than Baekhyun actually thought. He never saw the path when he was there before, but he blamed it all on the trees.  
  
The horse stables were fairly far from the house itself, but it was well worth the short walk. Baekhyun entered the building and was pleasantly surprised at how clean and well-maintained it all was. There were three horses, all of which were calm and inviting to the new stranger’s presence.  
  
“They’re beautiful, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun softly said as he approached the brown one, running his fair hand on the horse’s head. “What’re their names?”  
  
“Biscuit, Shortcake, and Will.”  
  
“Why is Will the only one who wasn’t named after a food?”  
  
Chanyeol shrugged as he walked over to pick a saddle from a rack on the wall. “Will’s my personal riding horse, but I let the other two be named by my nephew.”  
  
“Nephew?” Baekhyun blinked. “Your sister had a baby?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m an uncle.”  
  
“That’s weird to think about…” Moving to the other horses, Baekhyun pet them all just the same. “I still remember her yelling at you to get out of her room when we were sixteen. Remember that? She had a slumber party and you decided to be an ass. You barged in half-naked, and you ended up sleeping at my house.”  
  
“I don’t remember,” Chanyeol said, though it was clear by the tone of his voice that he knew exactly what the latter was talking about. He unlatched the stable door for the black and white spotted horse, calming her before setting the saddle firmly on her back. “This is Shortcake. You’ll be riding her today. Don’t worry. She’s very easy to strangers as long as you’re not aggressive with her.”  
  
“Why do I feel like I’m getting this horse for a reason?” Baekhyun muttered, taking the reins when Chanyeol walked the horse out of its stable.  
  
“For one, the name,” the giant explained. “Second of all, like I said, she’s very easy to strangers as long as you’re not aggressive.”  
  
Chanyeol walked away to get his own saddle and Baekhyun scrunched his face. “Oh, funny, Chanyeol. Your sense of humor’s really improved over the years!”  
  
“And yours went dry.”  
  
Letting the comment go, Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol saddled his own horse, Will, a black stallion, and managed to hoist himself up with ease. Trying to do the same, Baekhyun put one foot in the saddle’s provided loop and pulled himself on the horse.  
  
He almost didn’t make it. In fact, actually he didn’t. His left leg was over the horse, but his body was jutting out to the side and he was practically on the horse vertically. Crying out apologies, he used the horse’s hair and its sturdy neck to get himself upright. Triumphantly, he blew the stray hairs out of his face and caught his breath.  
  
“Glad it only took you half a century.” Chanyeol laughed as he gently kicked the side of his horse to get the stallion to slowly walk out of the stable.  
  
Baekhyun glared at the back of the man’s head and patted Shortcake’s bottom to get the gentle horse to walk on as well. Taking the command, the horse did as the brunette wanted and slowly followed.  
  
“It would’ve been faster if you helped me, at least!”  
  
“Didn’t feel like it.”  
  
Was this honestly the same guy who kissed him the day before and held him like he was a fragile item from FedEx? Baekhyun frowned. It was honestly a legitimate question.  
  
Chanyeol lead them on a wider trail, and a very familiar one at that. It took a while, but Baekhyun recognized it as a trail they often took when wandering the edge of the lake together when they were in school. The trail now, however, was cleaner and wider. There was no doubt in his mind that work was put into making it as it was.  
  
As their horses began to pace themselves closer and closer to one another, Baekhyun looked out over at the water. “So, this is yours…”  
  
“No.  _That_  belongs to the city, not me. I own the property around here, but not the lake.”  
  
Throwing him a look, Baekhyun gave him a lopsided frown. “You know what I meant.”  
  
“Can’t help but tease you about it though.”  
  
Chanyeol’s eyes were the darkest of brown. Though solid in its color, it often seemed as though it fluctuated with every emotion the man felt. When Baekhyun made eye contact with him, it felt as though he was being sucked into a black hole, unrelenting in its grasp of him as he remained mesmerized by the dark orbs.  
  
After a while, he broke eye contact, clearing his throat. As much as he would’ve liked to continue on in such a way, he knew he was there for more than just gazing at the man beside him. Even Chanyeol knew that there were more heavy matters to discuss by the way he kept quiet for long periods of time.  
  
Taking the first chance to start, Baekhyun managed to get Shortcake to walk directly beside the black stallion. “Can you talk to me about your marriage?” he asked, slightly unsure of the subject, but nonetheless felt it was necessary. “What was it like? Did you at least try to like her?”  
  
There was no doubt in his mind that the subject hurt like hell, but Baekhyun was very much used to controlling his facial expressions. He couldn’t, however, decipher what Chanyeol’s calm and collected body language had to say on the matter.  
  
Heaving his shoulders, Chanyeol shrugged and looked over the wondering brunette. “I never married anyone, Baekhyun. There was never a  _she_  or a divorce.”  
  
It came like a bombshell and Baekhyun’s mouth hung open. He didn’t know how to feel about the revelation. Relieved because it was a lie or embarrassed that he blew off on and on about the sanctity of love and marriage just days before? Chanyeol expected the reaction, but didn’t seem to show much for it.  
  
“I don’t understand,” Baekhyun finally found himself saying. His hold on Shortcake’s rein grew tighter. “You said there was a settlement and that… Chanyeol, you have all of  _this_! Didn’t you get this because she felt bad for you!?”  
  
“Baekhyun, I said I never married, and if I never married, then I never got a divorce or a settlement,” Chanyeol said again. After a moment, he asked, “Are you relieved I didn’t taint the entire idea of marriage for you?”  
  
It was meant to be a light question, but Baekhyun couldn’t help but draw his brows together as he processed the information. Unconsciously, he began petting the horse’s head, thankful that the animal had a few therapeutic powers.  
  
“Then why would you lie to me about that?” he asked, moments after a time of silence passed. “Why would you blatantly lie to my face?”  
  
“I didn’t think it’d hurt you so much.” The confession stung, but at the same time, Baekhyun felt forgiving. “I just needed to give you some sort of excuse in case you ever found out about  _this_. You already knew I wasn’t helping your father out for money, and I made the stupid mistake of bragging off my credit card to you. I just wanted something to slap you on the face for thinking I never did anything with my life, and that’s why I pulled it out.”  
  
“You could’ve just  _told_  me you had money.”  
  
Chanyeol scoffed. “Honey, you already  _knew_  I had money. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that you just  _had_  to dig your nose around and find out  _why_  I did. So, I gave you a reason. One that was believable. I just never thought you’d act that way.”  
  
“That’s because I—”  
  
“But I’m glad you did,” the giant cut off, giving him a hard and solid stare. “You seemed so bothered by the fact that I married, I got a little hopeful—so I pushed it. I didn’t expect for you to spill your guilty guts out to me or to mention Kyungsoo, however.”  
  
The mentioning of the name pulled Baekhyun’s head up. “But you did kiss him.”  
  
“I didn’t know that until a few days ago, but he—”  
  
“Um, no! How can you not know that you—”  
  
“Can we stick to one topic and get to the rest later?” Chanyeol rubbed his forehead. “Where were we? The marriage?”  
  
“The marriage that never was,” Baekhyun confirmed with a huff.  
  
"Alright, then.” Taking a moment of silence for himself, Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair giving himself a messy look that made Baekhyun bite down on his lower lip. “While we’re on the subject of how I got my money, I need to tell you something because it involves you, personally.”  
  
Baekhyun tore his eyes away from the man’s dark hair. “What?”  
  
“You and I had a savings account together. We started it in high school when we started talking about getting engaged and married. Remember that?”  
  
For once, Baekhyun’s memory did serve him right. They made the account in the winter when he started talking about couples getting married and Chanyeol brought up the idea of saving for the future. Since piggy banks were too tempting to break, the minute they both turned eighteen, Chanyeol drove them to the local bank and wrote up an account for the two of them.  
  
It grew slowly, but by the time they were twenty one, it was enough for a small wedding. It wasn’t necessarily large enough to build a life together, but it was enough to create the spark.  
  
Nodding, Baekhyun pursed his lips. “I remember.”  
  
“Well…It’s not there anymore,” Chanyeol said softly. “I took the money out and I closed the account.”  
  
“Why…” The word came like a whisper. “Did you need it for something? Didn’t you say that your father’s farm was—”  
  
Shaking his head, Chanyeol cut him off. “My dad’s farm is doing fine. He was never in foreclosure. I took the money out because… Baek, you said you didn’t love me anymore. What the hell was I supposed to do? That account was mocking me in the face and the money we piled in there was a constant reminder that I was never going to make that life with you. I had to take it out. I had no other choice.”  
  
“But you just gave that up?”  
  
Pulling the reins, Chanyeol put Will to a halt. Shortcake stopped as well. “Byun Baekhyun, back then, I was under the heavy impression that  _you_  gave up. Do you know how mentally and emotionally unstable you left me? I was practically a fucking insomniac because I couldn’t go to sleep without your voice repeating those words. I was a wreck without you… So, forgive me if it hurts you to know that I closed that chapter of our lives. It was over anyhow, so I thought I’d spend the money in other parts.”  
  
During the nights when he tossed and turned on his state of the art mattress and comfort set, crying about his stupid love life, Baekhyun wondered if Chanyeol was feeling like the glob of a mess that he felt like then.  
  
As he searched Chanyeol’s dark eyes, all he could see was the pain that had been tucked away for years, untouched, but never forgotten. And Baekhyun recognized it all. He was in the exact same state.  
  
“What’d you do with the money, then?” Baekhyun softly asked, already in understanding with Chanyeol’s situation. “Did you go back to school?”  
  
“I invested it in some new companies,” Chanyeol told him. “I was stupid. I didn’t even do my research about these investments. To be honest, I think I was half drunk when I made them. You can guess my surprise when they took off just six months after I put in my money in. They paid me back really good. Even to this day. After that, I guess I sobered up and used the money I got to go back to school. Majored in business and management. Came back after four years and started my own business.”  
  
With his eyes wide open, Baekhyun leaned in. “You have your own  _business_? I didn’t expect that.”  
  
“I can’t blame you. Neither did I.” Will began to move again and Baekhyun gently kicked Shortcake with the heel of his shoe. “I do construction so we do a lot of big projects here and there. I’m usually the one who oversees things.”  
  
“Then why’re you here?”  
  
“Because of you.”  
  
Baekhyun expected the usual answer which somehow always involved his parents, but the one Chanyeol gave was…  
  
The brunette didn’t know exactly. The only thing he knew for sure was that he stopped breathing for a split millisecond.  
  
“You always told me it was because you wanted to help my folks out…” Baekhyun reminded him. “Why me?”  
  
“Why you is exactly what I kept asking myself,” the giant said, laughing quietly to himself. “The day before you came, I honestly thought about backing out. I kept telling myself I was stupid to even ask your father’s permission to help you. We were done. Years already went by. You had your life and I had mine, but I wanted to see you even if it meant keeping you at a distance. That’s all I wanted.”  
  
“Chanyeol—”  
  
“Baekhyun, I think I’m still in love with you.” Chanyeol refused to look at him, keeping his eyes on the trail, but the latter was just the opposite. He couldn’t take his eyes off the man beside him. “I thought I was over this. You know, I tried my damn hardest to keep you away at arm’s length, but you’re just so… I don’t know how to say it.”  
  
“Say what?” Baekhyun pushed.  
  
Shrugging, Chanyeol glanced at him for the first time. “I don’t know. You have a gravitational pull. Every time you pissed me off, yeah, you sure as hell made me mad, but you don’t get it. I have the best damn patience compared to anyone else in the world, but when it comes to you, I’m one second away from detonating. You just ignite me the way no one else can, so I suppose your loud mouth and short temper has its uses.”  
  
Leaning over, Baekhyun smacked the man on his arm. “I have good patience, too, you know! You’re just a test from God, that’s all. You’re not the only one who gets easily mad when the other’s around.”  
  
“Guess that’s what makes us perfect for each other, then.”  
  
Pausing, Baekhyun gave him a look before drawing his eyes down to the ground. “So, you gambled our money away, went back to school, started a business, which is obviously doing well or else you wouldn’t have any of this... Then what about—”  
  
“Let’s talk about you for a second now.” Chanyeol turned his head up to the sky. It was becoming darker. “Who’s Kris?”  
  
“Who is he?” Baekhyun cocked his head. “He’s—”  
  
“I know he’s your manager. Everyone knows that.”  
  
Puzzled, Baekhyun was taken aback. If Chanyeol knew who Kris was, then what else did he want to know? “That’s all he is. He manages my schedules and appointments.”  
  
Unexpectedly, Chanyeol turned his head to him with a frowning expression. “You told me he was your boyfriend.”  
  
 _“What!?”_  
  
For the life of him, Baekhyun couldn’t recall the moment he told Chanyeol such a thing. His memory was never the brightest, but he knew for sure that the latter must’ve been mistaken somehow. There was absolutely no way he could’ve said that in the weeks that he’d been there. In fact, there was no reason to spin that fat lie.  
  
“Kris isn’t my boyfriend. I would never date him!” the brunette exclaimed. “He’s bossy, and likes to overbook me sometimes, which is a pain in the little ass that I have left because of the stupid diet he put me on for thirty weeks!” After he calmed down, he jabbed a finger in Chanyeol’s direction. “And I never told  _you_  that he was!”  
  
“Let me bring up the day. Maybe you’ll remember.” Chanyeol grew serious, but his voice remained slightly sarcastic. “You told me we weren’t working out anymore, and then I asked you why. You told me you met someone and you proceeded to go on and on in explicit detail about how you fell in love with your manager,  _Kris_ , while on the job because, as you said, it was ‘inevitable’ for two people working side by side to fall in love. Did that jostle your memory up?”  
  
Cursing mentally, Baekhyun berated himself. It did happen. He remembered how he said those words to make the break up easier, but what he couldn’t remember was who it was supposed to make it easier  _for_. Looking up, he saw Chanyeol watching him, and proudly, he lifted his chin.  
  
“Well, you know what? You’re not the only one who can lie about their love life!” he justified, crossing his arms. “But just to make it clear, no. I would never date him and I never did. He’s far too old for me, Chanyeol. He’s what? Thirty. I prefer people my own age.”  
  
“That’s good.”  
  
A grin formed on the man’s face and Baekhyun could see how the situation was satisfyingly dealt with. They put that specific misunderstanding behind them and continued on the path.  
  
“I think it’s time you tell me about Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said finally, loosening his grip on Shortcake’s reins. The sky in the horizon didn’t look too friendly anymore, but the brunette found himself silently calling the upcoming storm forward. “I want to know what happened.”  
  
“I was drunk. That’s what happened.”  
  
Seconds passed and Baekhyun waited patiently for the man to catch his bearing and explain on.  
  
“You had gotten so famous in such a short time. We stopped talking because of your schedule and the time differences… You know, I was feeling like an absolute piece of shit for being  _nothing_. All I did was help my dad around and drink, trying to get a hold of you.”  
  
Thunder rolled in the distance.  
  
“Then rumors started floating around about you and that manager of yours. Papers. Online articles. Hell, the entire World Wide Web was on your love life’s ass. I tried to ignore it, but I wasn’t in the right mind anymore. I was already feeling worthless. I didn’t have the confidence to believe that you wouldn’t do that to me.”  
  
Baekhyun’s lips wavered. “I didn’t think you heard any of those things…” His voice was quiet, but Chanyeol heard enough. “You should’ve said something to me. I would’ve told you.”  
  
“How could I?” Chanyeol asked. “You were so busy, your assistants kept putting me on hold and asking if I wanted to leave a message. What could I have done? Tell them to tell you,  _‘Hey, your boyfriend called. He’s feeling a bit insecure against your high profile manager who’s just as tall as he is, but much more successful. Call him and let him know it’s all okay,’_?”  
  
“Yes!”  
  
“Don’t be an idiot. I’m a man and I have my pride.” Sighing, Chanyeol moved Will into a slower trot. “After we fought, I left your house and drove to Kyungsoo’s house. You know, the one I kept telling you that was twenty minutes from town by car?”  
  
Baekhyun let the jab go. “And?”  
  
“He told me all about that night. Of course, he didn’t know you were there, but he knew that I kissed him when I was wasted as all after listening to those rumors again.” Then he stopped. “He told me it was disgusting. That I tasted bitter and sad.”  
  
“Was he—”  
  
“He wasn’t talking about the alcohol,” Chanyeol finished, lips drawing into a thin line. “Then I passed out on him and he drove me back to my dad’s house. I woke up with the worst hangover, but I couldn’t remember what had happened. He never told me either. Said it was better off that way. He asked me why I was asking and I told him about us. By the way, he said to make it clear that he’s just my gardener on the weekends. Nothing more.”  
  
Slowly, everything began to piece together. The reasons and the fallout, like Pangaea in reverse. Baekhyun closed his eyes and felt the first drop of the late summer rain.  
  
As the droplet slid off his cheek, it took with it all his pain and the turmoil he kept burning inside of him. It sizzled out the fire of misunderstanding and washed away parts of the past that he had kept with him.  
  
“Chanyeol, can I ask you one last thing?”  
  
“We’re talking right now, aren’t we? So, go ahead.”  
  
Taking in a breath, Baekhyun asked, “Who was that woman?”  
  
“She was my lawyer, consulting me about liability for…”  
  
Baekhyun zoned out feeling like he wanted to smack himself against a large tree. His lawyer. The woman was his lawyer, and his mother must’ve known that when he mentioned the word  _girlfriend_  in front of her the night Chanyeol picked him up from his ride from “Kyungsoo’s” house. Even Shortcake could sense his stupidity by snorting.  
  
Another roll of thunder hit and the rain began to pour. The horses fidgeted at the cracking sound of the sky, but neither Baekhyun nor the giant beside him made a sound, accepting the rain as it began to drench them.  
  
Shortcake had more issues with the thunder than Will. Slightly more erratic than she was before, Chanyeol decided that the horse was more than Baekhyun was likely to be comfortable with. Asking for the reins, he took control of the horse until he positioned the two horses side by side.  
  
“Transfer over in front of me.”  
  
Nodding, Baekhyun whispered a good-bye to his horse and quickly eased into the space in front of Chanyeol. He held tightly on the saddle in fear of falling until Chanyeol settled an arm around him while holding both reins. It wasn’t too long after when Baekhyun settled against him.  
  
Their way back to the stable was filled with silence, but the kind that asked for nothing to fill its void. When they reached the inside of the stable, Baekhyun was cold and Chanyeol was very aware, working quickly to hop off his stallion to put the mare back in her enclosed corner.  
  
Then he came back with his arms outreached. “Come on,” he said encouragingly as Baekhyun moved his way off the horse. When he felt Chanyeol’s strong hands hold him by the waist, he knew he could safely jump the rest down.  
  
Reaching into his pocket, Chanyeol took out a set of keys and handed them to Baekhyun once he was off the horse. “Get inside and dry yourself off. I’ll follow after you.”  
  
Baekhyun looked at the silver key and nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want me to help with anything?”  
  
“I’m sure. Now, go. The wind’s starting to pick up.”  
  
-  
  
-  
  
Running from the stable to the house was a pleasure. Never had the rain felt more refreshing and cool against him, and it didn’t bother him in the slightest how he was completely drenched from his head all the way down to his dirty shoes.  
  
He reached the back entry way of the house and took his shoes off at the side. It took seconds after he pushed his hair back to realize that he had just entered the most beautiful home he’d ever seen. For a moment, he almost felt a bit sad at the fact that he was soaking the dark hardwood floors of the kitchen.  
  
Baekhyun had no idea where to go. It all seemed too nice for him to ruin by sliding his wet self across the floor trying to find what? A bathroom?  
  
Quietly, he stood there, feeling apologetic to the man who he had accused of so many things only to be wrong countless times. Sighing, Baekhyun gave himself leeway as he moved to from the door and towards the granite kitchen island. On it was the magazine he had signed for Kyungsoo just weeks before, but with it was a note attached, saying, _“For you, loser.”_  
  
Unexpectedly, he laughed. God, he felt so stupid, but so relieved that it meant nothing more but just friendship. Baekhyun jerked from the island when he heard the back door open and smile the second Chanyeol met his glance.  
  
“Oh, hi.”  
  
“Hey,” Chanyeol replied, distracted. “Why haven’t you dried off yet? There’re towels in the bathroom upstairs.”  
  
“I didn’t know where your bathrooms were,” Baekhyun told him.  
  
Cursing to himself, Chanyeol exhaled, moving towards him and taking his hand. “Come on before you catch a cold.”  
  
“Before we  _both_  catch a cold.” The brunette couldn’t help himself.  
  
Following the man up the stairs, Baekhyun’s eyes fed on everything he saw. From the paintings to the curtains to the lamps and to the small tables, it was all beautifully decorated. The only thing that tore his attention away from the interior house design was the firm and warm grip of Chanyeol’s hand, assuring the brunette that everything was real.  
  
Chanyeol handed him a towel and a set of his clothes. “They might be too big, but this wouldn’t be the first time you’ve worn anything of mine.”  
  
Making a face, Baekhyun took the clothes in his care with grace. “Thanks,” he said, sticking his tongue out subtly before closing the bathroom door.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
Of all the things the man forgot to give him, it had to be boxers.  
  
Pulling down on the white shirt Chanyeol had given him, Baekhyun trudged out of the bathroom and began wandering the halls. “Yeol?” he called, opening door after door. “Can I borrow a pair of your boxers for a minute?”  
  
Baekhyun stopped, frowning. He could hear the dryer on the first floor adamantly working on their clothes and the wind and rain beating against the windows, but he couldn’t hear the giant anywhere. Pursing his lips together, he walked towards the end of the hall towards the room with the double doors, one slightly opened.  
  
Putting one hand on the unlocked door, he pushed inside. “Hey, genius, you forgot to give me—”  
  
He shrieked when he felt the giant’s arms swoop him into the air, but his screams turned into uncontrollable laughter as Chanyeol spun them around before landing both of them on the bed.  
  
Grinning, Chanyeol pulled the brunette on top of him. “What were you saying about boxers?” he asked, teasingly tugging on the shirt he had given the latter.  
  
Snorting, Baekhyun gave a shy grin back, dragging his hands down Chanyeol’s broad chest until he reached back and began pulling on the only clothing the man had on. “Nothing, except you need to get rid of yours.”  
  
Chanyeol hummed as Baekhyun leaned down, crashing their lips together. His hand worked diligently and with the help of the brunette on top of him, he managed to kick his boxers to the floor. With both of his hands free, Chanyeol groped the ass set atop his manhood and began to grind their parts together.  
  
Baekhyun moaned, rolling his hips to the movement and slowly coming alive. Breaking apart from the kiss, Chanyeol took the opportunity to drag his hard kisses along the brunette’s pale neck, and Baekhyun arched his body when he felt Chanyeol’s fingers teasingly probe along the rim of his entrance, prying his cheeks apart.  
  
Craning his head upwards, Chanyeol took one of the perky nipples jutting out of his lips’ attention and took it in his mouth, gently pulling at it and flicking it with his tongue, sucking until it was time for the other to be rewarded their attention. Chanyeol took pride in the swollenness of the brunette’s small pink nipples, and indulged in their taste over and over again until Baekhyun collapsed on him from being overwhelmed by the probing fingers and tongue.  
  
Flipping them over, Chanyeol gave him a long hard kiss before trailing down the male’s body, past his gleaming nipples still slick with his saliva and down between Baekhyun’s parted legs. He felt Baekhyun grip onto his dark hair, pulling him teasingly away from his parts, but Chanyeol took a firm hand, holding him still while the other took the brunette’s aroused cock and began to pump it.  
  
 _“Chanyeol,”_  Baekhyun gasped, crying as his hips jerked into the hand, requesting more. He had never felt that needy with anyone else before, but Chanyeol knew exactly what it was that made him click. Releasing the man’s hair, Baekhyun’s hands clawed at the mattress then to his mouth to keep from crying out when Chanyeol took him to his mouth.  
  
Bobbing his head, Chanyeol engulfed the shaft, sucking its very tip all the way down to the brunette’s constricted balls. He lapped at the clear pre-ejaculation that oozed from the cock’s head and dragged the tip of his tongue against the head’s slit.  
  
No one else knew Baekhyun’s body like he did and Chanyeol took that into his full advantage. Pulling his mouth away, he pressed a finger against the boy’s tight little hole, pressing against it as his other hand pumped up and down on the shaft.  
  
Baekhyun felt like he was sinfully in heaven, whining and crying out in pleasure as Chanyeol’s rough hands took care of every one of his body’s needs. His body reacted on its own grinding and jerking until he convulsed and felt his release escape him.  
  
As he came down from his high, he quickly found the giant was yet to be done with his body. Pushing the brunette’s legs above his shoulders, Chanyeol leaned down and ate his fill. His tongue traced the rings of the small tiny cunt while his hands played with the nipples, not given the chance to be forgotten.  
  
 _“Chanyeol, Chanyeol, Chanyeol…”_  Baekhyun said his name like a mantra, doing nothing else but spreading his legs out even more.  
  
Finally giving the well abused male some mercy, Chanyeol departed from the bed just long enough to come back with a bottle of lube. Baekhyun stared at the object as he waited with his legs apart, hand down the middle toying with himself.  
  
“Well, isn’t that convenient…” Baekhyun said quietly.  
  
Chanyeol caught the tone of his voice and gave a small chuckle. “I bought it before I left for your house. I would’ve had you bouncing on me in that barn if it wasn’t in my car,” he said gruffly before settling in between the open legs.  
  
Splaying the gel on his fingers, he leaned over and offered his tongue for Baekhyun to take. And he did, entangling his hands in the dark ruffled mess before giving a quiet shriek at the first finger that gently entered him.  
  
He wriggled until he felt Chanyeol’s finger all the way in, squeezing his ass tightly until Chanyeol cursed and slowly slipped out. Laughing, he kissed Chanyeol by the side of the mouth and kissed him slowly by the lips, tugging gently on the man’s bottom lip.  
  
Putting a strong hand on the brunette’s thigh after two fingers had finished drilling open the tight squeeze, Chanyeol stroked himself slick with the gel substance and positioned the head of his thickness against the pulsating entrance.  
  
Pulling apart just enough, Chanyeol caught Baekhyun’s eyes and soon, they were forehead to forehead, inches away from each other’s lips. He could see by the way the smaller male’s lips wobbled that he was anticipating the next action just as much as  _he_  was, but the escalating tension was just as exhilarating.  
  
“God, I’m so in love with you,” he groaned before lowering his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder and thrusting his entire length with one fallen swoop.  
  
Baekhyun clawed at his shoulder, leaving marks as he felt his entire body being stretched by the swollen body part. He whimpered, hanging on tightly as Chanyeol began to move, rocking both their bodies and the sturdy bed frame, making the structure creak.  
  
Chanyeol’s movements became erratic as his need for Baekhyun’s body grew more and more. He held tightly on the smaller’s waist, but reached far enough to grip strongly on the headboard, using it as a leverage for when he wanted to push farther in deeper and stronger.  
  
Crying out with every hit to his savored spot, Baekhyun turned his head up until Chanyeol craned down to take his lips, swallowing every moan that emitted from him.  
  
The bed stood its trial with ever bouncing movement the two made, and the headboard proved to be strong, unbending to every push and pull Chanyeol had on its structure with every one of his thrusts.  
  
Skin grinding on skin was all that filled the air. The rain and wind became drowned by every one of Chanyeol’s gruff groans and curses. Red and raw was the giant’s back and swollen was Baekhyun’s body. When he finally came to his end, he released himself, filling the tiny male’s body with his flooding juices, just enough that when he pulled himself out, the white thick product came out with ease.  
  
He slowly let go of the bed and rolled to the side, lying beside the sweat-covered brunette who was just tired out of his mind like he was. After taking a while to regain himself, he sat up and looked down at Baekhyun who had covered his eyes with an arm over his face.  
  
“You okay?”  
  
For some reason, Baekhyun thought the question was funny, and so he laughed, dropping his arm and revealing a happy grin aimed for the man beside him. “I’m fine.”  
  
With his shoulders tiredly slumped, Chanyeol reached over, grazing his face with his hand. “Didn’t hurt you at all?”  
  
“Of course not,” Baekhyun replied, leaning into the touch. “What about you? How do you feel?”  
  
A second later, Chanyeol dropped himself back on the bed and rolled over to draw Baekhyun against him, entangling their legs and uncaring for the mess they had made. “Perfect. Absolutely perfect.”  
  
-  
  
-  
  
Consequently, their relationship became better, but that didn’t mean fewer arguments over equipment and other how to do things. It just meant an easier way to end things at the end of the day which, for the most part, was spent at Chanyeol’s house.  
  
There wasn’t much arguing about  _that_  matter. In fact, Baekhyun’s parents failed to bring up the topic of their son’s more and more frequent sleep overs, and the brunette was just fine with that.  
  
Sometimes, in the night, he’d lie awake thinking about their options together once his time on the farm was done, and that day was slowly approaching, but he’d stop himself, putting the issue off for another day.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
“Chanyeol.  _Really_. I don’t—”  
  
“What’re you scared about? I’m going in right after you.”  
  
Baekhyun whipped his head around at the pushy male. “You know I haven’t swung off any branches in years!”  
  
“You’re going to swing off a rope that’s  _tied_  to a branch,” Chanyeol said, handing him the said rope.  
  
“Why can’t I jump off the dock?”  
  
“Because I didn’t spend all morning setting this rope up for you not to use it.”  
  
Fuck him. Baekhyun glared at the peering giant. There was nothing more that he hated than being guilt tripped into doing something. His manager knew that, but Chanyeol knew it even better.  
  
Lifting Baekhyun up by his waist, Chanyeol made it easier for him to get a bearing on the rope. Once the brunette was somewhat comfortable, he looked up. “Ready?”  
  
“Okay. Just don’t push—”  
  
Chanyeol did push, but not as hard as Baekhyun had made it seem with his blood-curdling scream through the air before he hit the water. When Chanyeol swung and joined him, he was met with two fists and a hell of a lot of hits to the chest, but it was nothing his lips couldn’t stop. Nothing at all.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
  
  
Baekhyun wasn’t the only one wondering where they were really headed after their blissful run. More often than not, Chanyeol began to think more and more of the matter as the days dragged by and the Saturday of Baekhyun’s departure began to edge close and closer.  
  
He couldn’t get the guy out of his mind anymore, and it didn’t help that most nights, Baekhyun would crawl into bed with him until one thing led to another and he was on cloud nine for twenty straight hours again.   
  
It mattered to him that they talk about their plan. If he had to go through the god damn process of losing the messy haired, short tempered, seductive male who flared him up like no other, Chanyeol was in no mind to think that he’d ever make it.  
  
His work was calling on him, as well. Fact of the matter was, he couldn’t just sleep and have fun with Baekhyun all he wanted, despite how that was  _all_  he wanted. Jongin was calling his house every day to report in the progress of their projects, but with every day that passed, it seemed more and more like he needed to be there to oversee everything until the job is finished.  
  
Crossing his arms, Chanyeol leaned against the doorway, watching as the morning sun hit the naked body curled up on the messy bed. The cool morning air hit his skin and Chanyeol slowly moved to his closet and took out a plain black shirt. When he turned around, he heard a soft groan and saw Baekhyun sitting up, hair sticking in all directions without a care.  
  
“Good morning…” his broken and dry voice greeted.  
  
Smiling, Chanyeol walked over to the bed. “Morning,” he replied, kissing the side of his cheek.  
  
“Why’re you up so early?” Baekhyun asked after Chanyeol let him return the quick kiss back. “I was going to wake you up in a special way.”  
  
He yawned and Chanyeol stifled a laugh. It was too cute. “I needed to take care of a few things with work.”  
  
“Oh…Okay.”  
  
Before he could lie back down, Chanyeol stopped him, putting a hand on his back. “Baekhyun, we need to talk. It’s already nine, so no more sleeping, okay?”  
  
“Can we talk over breakfast, then?”  
  
“We can if that’s what you—”  
  
“Actually, let’s talk about it now,” Baekhyun said, changing his mind as he rubbed his eyes. “Let’s get it over with. What do you want to talk about?”  
  
“I wanted to talk about us,” Chanyeol started, sitting on the side of the bed. “We need to talk about what’s going to happen.”  
  
Groaning, Baekhyun slipped himself on the bed, face smothering the mattress. “I don’t want to talk about how things will be when this is all over,” he said, muffled by the bed. “I don’t want to  _think_  about when this fling’s done.”  
  
Chanyeol froze. Fling? He stared at the brunette before rolling him on his back. “You think this is just a fling?”  
  
“Isn’t it?” Baekhyun asked in a strained voice. There was an uncertainty to the giant whether it was due to the fact that he just woke up or because the thought that it _was_  just a “fling” killed him. “What else could this be?”  
  
Appalled, Chanyeol leaned back. “I never wanted a fling, Baekhyun. If I did, I wouldn’t have started this. You really think I’d bear it all out in the open just for it to be over by the time noon hits next Saturday?”  
  
Suddenly fully awake, Baekhyun jerked upright. “Chanyeol, I…” He stopped, jaw tense. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened between us… I have my job. I have my condo. You have your business and you have this beautiful, beautiful house—”  
  
“Which I built on the memory of  _us_.”  
  
“I know that!” Baekhyun sighed, putting a hand to his head. “But  _I_  can’t have both lives! I can’t be a model and a celebrity with  _this_  life, and I don’t  _want_  this life because I love my job and I love what I do!”  
  
“You can have the best of what both have to offer!” Chanyeol argued.  
  
“But it won’t be like that forever. I’ll have to choose one over the other someday, Yeol, and right now I—”  
  
“Then  _choose._ ”  
  
Chanyeol was watching him with steel eyes, unwilling to let the eye contact go. Swallowing, Baekhyun gave him a small heave of the shoulders. He spoke too late. Though nonverbal in his answer, Chanyeol could see by the void in his brown eyes that his heart was set on one decision and one only.  
  
Cursing, the giant stood up from the bed, chest heaving with the feeling of something heavy weighing on him. He walked back and forth with hands behind his neck, and all Baekhyun could do was watch as the dream began to slowly end…  
  
“Chanyeol…” Baekhyun felt helpless as the colors of his world began to fade again. “Chanyeol, where are you going?”  
  
“Get dressed. I’m taking you home in ten minutes.”  
  
God, what had he done, but be honest? Baekhyun hit the bed with his fist. “I never even gave you an answer!” he cried desperately just before Chanyeol reached the doors.  
  
He saw the way the man’s shoulders tensed, and he could tell by his body language that he was angry, but the second Chanyeol turned to meet his gaze, Baekhyun was crestfallen by the words behind his glassy eyes.  
  
“You didn’t need to.”  
  
-  
  
-  
  
It was happening all over again.  
  
The same heart shattered, and his tears became as wasted as his love. Baekhyun watched as the sun rose and set with the giant no longer coming around to mark his presence in his life.  
  
Saturday morning felt like his funeral, and Baekhyun had no desire to wake up anymore. All he wanted to do was sink into a bottomless pit and stay there. If he couldn’t have both lives, then he might as well have none at all.  
  
His father’s injuries had become better, and he could function around the farm if he didn’t exert himself too much. But Baekhyun was no fool. Beyond the smiles and the old jokes were two folks who could sense his weakness and sadness like no other.  
  
That morning, he put on his best jeans, shirt, and over coat. He applied his makeup and styled his hair. When he looked in the mirror, there was no trace of the man who woke up next to his ex looking like a natural disaster.  
  
There was a slight hope that beamed from him as he waited on the porch for his ride. He set his head on his knees as he waited on the steps, fantasizing Chanyeol’s old truck coming from the horizon to take him away from all his troubles.  
  
He hadn’t lied that morning. It was in his honest opinion to say how both were precious to him, but one would eventually win over. His life on the go had a large leverage over him, one that had a contract. In his mind, he wasn’t being selfish at all to choose his career over a simpler life. It was all he’d ever wanted and all he ever needed, but he was beginning to question that.  
  
It wasn’t that he didn’t need Chanyeol. Baekhyun ached at the very thought of going on without waking up with him anymore. He just didn’t want a repeat of history. The past had already proven he was horrible at maintaining relationships while keeping a growing career. Juggling was never his forte.  
  
Chanyeol was right. Maybe he did make a choice without having to verbally declare it, but it wasn’t a choice that Baekhyun wanted. It was just the nature of things, and every night since that morning, he cursed everything and everyone for a life more complicated than an unsolved algorithm.  
  
So, he had a hope that played off a fantasy, but it was hope nonetheless. However, reality was not so kind. It never was, at least not in Baekhyun’s opinion.  
  
He heard a rumble in the distance and jerked his head up, eyes desperately searching for that old truck, but was crushed to see a white car near instead.  
  
The cab had arrived.  
  
-  
  
-  
  
“Baekhyun needs hair and makeup now!”  
  
Orders were being yelled at and a handful of people were bustling from place to place with ear pieces in their ear and bottles of water in their arms to hand out. Baekhyun kept calm, letting the hair and makeup stylists do their job. At his hands were people making sure his fingers were just as flawless as his face.  
  
Baekhyun’s eyes wandered the mirror in front of him, and his eyes caught the calendar from a reflection off to his left. It was the fourteenth of December meaning it’d been four months since his break from the scene. Sighing, Baekhyun closed his eyes at the request of the woman in charge of his makeup.  
  
Four months of absolutely nothing, but breathing, eating, living. There was nothing else beside the given facts, and Baekhyun tried to forget about the loneliness by working every minute of the day. However, it was beginning harder and harder to do with the simple fact that Christmas was surrounding him, even his work.  
  
Behind him, some models were already dressed and ready to be placed in the spotlight of the runway, but Baekhyun paid them no mind as he was told that he was finished. Putting his arms out, he let them take away his robe, replacing it with a white undershirt and a jacket worth more than his monthly mortgage.  
  
He was ushered to put his shoes on and to undergo last minute changes to his entire outfit, having to hold his breath when the hair stylist released a large puff of hairspray on him. Keeping his lips tight, he survived the ordeal and was gently pulled into the line with his female pair.  
  
Smiling at her, he quietly complimented her appearance, which she took kindly as she hooked her arm with his. Usually, he liked breaking the ice with a joke or two, and consequently, he found that the girl was a pleasant woman to work with until they were hushed by the director.  
  
When the clock hit seven, Baekhyun heard the intro music play and knew the show had begun.  
  
He whispered good luck to his partner, and received one in return just before the bright spotlight hit his sensitive eyes and he took one foot of the other, doing what he did best. Baekhyun poised his chin high for the audience to catch his best angles, eyes fierce and his swagger on point.  
  
At the end, they held their poses and sharply turned on their heels when walking back to the back of the stage. The first and possibly only rule of runway modeling was to keep one’s eyes straight forward despite the glare of the spotlight, but when Baekhyun caught something from the corner of his eyes that resembled  _him_ , he bit his lip subtly to keep himself from turning to look.  
  
It wasn’t the first time the event happened. There had been times when Baekhyun felt like  _he_  was there when in reality, it was nothing more than his cruel mind playing tricks on him.  
  
Baekhyun went through the process of five costume changes before the show ended with the finale of all the models showcasing their last look. Afterwards, the backstage of the entire show was just as chaotic as before with many people entering to greet and congratulate the models.  
  
Being fairly well known himself, he received a handful of special thanks from the director and owner of the show, gracefully accepting the bouquets and flowers. As time dragged on, people began to leave for the after party.  
  
Valet was working their tail ends off, busy as could be, and Baekhyun stayed in the backstage waiting room to be called for his ride. His phone rang and he dug in the deep pockets of his winter coat while holding his flowers to answer, dismissing the act of checking the caller I.D.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
“Baekhyun.”  
  
Nodding and smiling at the people who passed by the room, Baekhyun turned his attention to the phone. “Yes, Kris?”  
  
“W Magazine wants to book you for a shoot on the twenty-sixth. I told them they could if they’d pay you more than Glamore who I booked for that day. Now, in my opinion, I think that…”  
  
Looking at his feet, Baekhyun listened and hummed to all of Kris’ reasoning. He had no desire to work the day after Christmas but what else could he do? Spend time with his family? That would’ve been lovely if not for his cowardice to own up to his problems.  
  
“So I think you should—”  
  
“Kris, can I get back to you on that?” he interrupted, in no mood to listen to anything anymore. Then, he hung up before anything else was said.  
  
Closing his eyes, he settled into the back of the sofa and exhaled. The after party was guaranteed to be a great time, and maybe, just maybe, he could use that to his full advantage. When he heard a knock at the door, he lifted his eyes to meet the gaze of Luhan, an on-site assistant.  
  
“Baekhyun, your car’s waiting for you in the back.”  
  
“Alright. Thank you,” Baekhyun said, giving a small smile as he pushed himself off the seat, making sure the flowers in his arms stayed intact. Just as he passed the boy on the way out in the hall, he nodded. “Have a great holiday. Good job today, Luhan.”  
  
“Thanks, Baek,” the blonde said, waving. “I’ll see you around. Happy holidays to you, too!”  
  
As Baekhyun walked towards the back entrance, he thought about those words, and compromised with himself that he  _would_  have a “nice” holiday—or at least try. Working on the holidays could be nice, too, and he could always make it happy.  
  
With every step that he took, he felt even emptier. How long was he going to run around in circles trying to convince himself he was fine?  
  
He was fine. He’d always  _be_  fine and—  
  
No. Baekhyun’s grip on the flowers tightened. He wasn’t happy. There was a difference between being genuinely happy and pretending to be happy in front of a crowd of people only to go back to a home that had no life.  
  
For god’s sake, it was the Christmas reason. Even the woman he worked with had a boyfriend who came around to give her a kiss and congratulations. The man had shaken his hand and thanked him for taking care of his girlfriend!  
  
How did  _she_  manage to have a relationship and a career? What made _her_ figure out the secret? Maybe he really was selfish and the world was justified to punish him with the feeling of utter loneliness. Baekhyun didn’t know. All he knew was that he was alone because he had made a choice, and he was utterly…indescribably…and hopelessly…miserable.  
  
He stepped outside and found a chauffeur opened the door to a black sedan, greeting him by name. The color of the car was different than the red vehicle that Kris had arranged to drop him off from his condo to the show, but Baekhyun didn’t think too much about it. There had been plenty of times when the man decided to switch carriers.  
  
Getting into the car, Baekhyun settled in, buckling himself in the back before turning his head to the window. He hadn’t noticed it before, but small flutters of snow was flying in the air, and Baekhyun thought the sight was absolutely beautiful and serene. The first snow in December, and there he was, on his way to an after-party alone.  
  
His laugh slowly turned into a small cry until he snapped himself out of the thought of missing anyone.  
  
Wiping the wetness from under his eye, Baekhyun took in a deep breath and continued to watch as the car moved along.  
  
He knew exactly where the party was, but was met with the unfamiliar site of a deserted park. Jerking his attention to the driver, Baekhyun frowned and suddenly, he felt panicked. Was he being kidnapped? Were they lost?  
  
Baekhyun fought to unscramble his thoughts by the time the driver opened his door. Defensively, he put the flowers down and unclicked his seatbelt, ready to fight. “Where are we?”  
  
The driver said nothing, only motioning for Baekhyun to exit the vehicle. Though common sense told him to reject the command, Baekhyun found his legs obeying, slowing sliding out the side of the car.  
  
Looking around, he saw nothing but a sparse number of people taking night walks. It wasn’t until he looked in the direction of the large, white, lit fountain that he noticed a figure standing just a few feet away from him holding a familiar object.  
  
The snow flurries fluttered around them and Baekhyun couldn’t grasp the right words to say. His heart was slowly coming back to life and his eyes felt the formation of tears beginning to process. Biting his tongue, he attempted to contain himself, but found that he couldn’t.  
  
His arms were uselessly by his side and he made no move to use them in anyway just as his legs were frozen to the ground. Red from the cold, his ears and nose screamed to be covered with something warm, but Baekhyun was also deaf to his body’s needs with a mind so preoccupied, he was rendered numb.  
  
The driver had returned back inside the car leaving the brunette to face that man at the end of the small pathway to the center of the fountain. A nuclear explosion happened inside of him, thawing him from his frozen state, but his reaction was like it had always been. Cowardly.  
  
Spinning around, he put a hand on the door handle and was one second away from ripping the side of the car open, but then he stopped.  
  
What was he doing? God, he didn’t know anymore.  
  
Turning his head, he looked back and met the dark orbs that pleaded for him to stay. Glancing up at the night sky, Baekhyun inhaled and held his breath, making his decision.  
  
“What’re you doing here?” he choked out, trying to walk firmly and angrily at the giant, but it was failing with every step.  
  
“I came to watch your show and to give you flowers.”  
  
Baekhyun stopped two feet from Chanyeol. It was all he allowed himself or else the man would’ve pulled him in closer by his mere gravitational pull. His hair was as rugged as his personality, but the turtleneck and long black coat gave him a different feeling than the man Baekhyun last saw with jeans and a shirt.  
  
Glancing at the man’s large hands, Baekhyun frowned. “I’m not planting that…”  
  
“I wasn’t going to ask you to, honey,” Chanyeol replied.  
  
The déjà vu moment pulled at the brunette’s heart strings and he forced himself to look away. “Did you like the show?”  
  
“Yes.”  
   
I’m sorry.  
  
Why couldn’t he say those simple words? They were practically crying for him to speak, burning his throat dry. Baekhyun shut his eye tightly, jaws locked as his knuckles lost their color. “I’m glad,” he said tightly before letting the silence fall. “Chanyeol—”  
  
“I’m sorry, Baekhyun.”  
  
Snapping his head at the giant, Baekhyun gave him a hard look full of hurt. Why the hell was  _he_  apologizing? Why could Chanyeol say those words, but he couldn’t? He was the one who needed to say them, so why was the stupid man saying words he shouldn’t have been saying?  
  
Angrily, Baekhyun didn’t know what else to do. So he slapped him. “Stop…”  
  
Chanyeol’s face remained as it was. Dismissing the slap, he looked at the smaller male. “I was wrong back then. I’m s—”  
  
Baekhyun slapped him again. “Stop apologizing.” His voice was breaking apart. “I don’t want your apologies.”  
  
“Baekhyun—”  
  
“Why  _should_  you apologize about anything!?” Putting his hands on Chanyeol’s chest, Baekhyun pushed him back. “Why’re you wasting words? Why’re you making yourself into such a fat idiot when  _I_  should be the one doing that!? You make me so mad, Park Chanyeol. Just shut up!”  
  
Drawing his brows together, Chanyeol released one hand free to catch the latter’s wrist. “Baekhyun, please just—”  
  
“ _I’m_  sorry! Not you!” The tears were spilling, but Baekhyun didn’t care. He ripped his hand from Chanyeol’s grip and punched the giant’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I chose my career over you! I just… It was so hard, Chanyeol! It still is, and now…now we’re fucking fighting on the first snow day in Seoul and I’m such an idiot.”  
  
Breaking down, Baekhyun fell to the ground, resting his head on his knees as he covered himself in that position. There was a party with hundreds of people possibly waiting for him, and yet he didn’t care for any of them. The only one on his mind was the dark haired giant who made him want to burst into flames every second of the day. And with pleasure.  
  
He heard the sound of the flower plant being set on the ground, and the next thing Baekhyun knew, Chanyeol was crouched in front of him, holding his head between his hands and forcing him to raise his face.  
  
“I told you…you could have the best of both, but I failed you by accepting your decision for this life,” Chanyeol confessed, searching Baekhyun’s eyes. “I let you go by trying to be okay, and you know I just spent the worst four months thinking about that morning.”  
  
Baekhyun gave a dry laugh as he felt a thumb rub away at the droplets sliding off his cheek. “Everything’s my fault.”  
  
“That’s not true. Part of it is mine, and I won’t let us go down that road where we think we’re both at fault, blaming each other for years because we didn’t  _talk_  about it.”  
  
With his eyes wandering down, he noticed how tight Chanyeol’s jaw had become. Reaching upwards, he cupped the man’s face with his cold, small hands. “I don’t want any type of life without you anymore,” he croaked. “I’m so alone, Yeol.”  
  
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said, rising up and taking Baekhyun with him. “I’ve been a walking mess, too, but I bet you can’t say the same thing. You looked beautiful up on that runway, honey. No wonder you love it, but I can’t say I wasn’t jealous knowing that other guys were watching you.”  
  
“Stop,” Baekhyun snorted, putting his forehead against the giant’s broad chest. “I’m not.”  
  
“You are. Even more when you have nothing on.”  
  
Laughing, Baekhyun wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket before inhaling. “So, what do we do now?”  
  
“Well,” Chanyeol started as the brunette leaned down to pick up the pot of flowers. “I’m moving my business’ headquarters here in Seoul, so I’ll be spending more time here.”  
  
Immediately, Baekhyun’s eyes lit up. “Really? Are you really?”  
  
“I told you I made the mistake of accepting your choice,” Chanyeol said. “I was insensitive. I didn’t think it’d be a difficult decision for you to make. I’m sorry…But I realize now that we should’ve made compromises. Anyways, I’ve been working on moving the business for months now. I just settled in a few weeks ago to an apartment, probably smaller than your condo, but what can I do? I’m just a simple business man with a super model husband.”  
  
“Husband?” The brunette’s cheeks flushed with a blush of red. “Chanyeol—”  
  
Putting a hand on the Baekhyun’s back, Chanyeol began to lead them back to the car. “I got a bit carried away there, but soon enough, it’ll be true, won’t it? Hopefully, this time, at least.”  
  
Jabbing the man with his elbow, Baekhyun huffed. “Of course, stupid man.” Then, after a while, he asked, “What about your house?”  
  
“Hmmm,” Chanyeol hummed, snaking an arm around Baekhyun’s waist and pulling the shorter against him. “I thought that maybe you could cut back on your schedule a little bit as your part of the compromise? Just a little bit. I’m not asking you to give up your life, just enough so that we can have and make our own.”  
  
Without hesitation, Baekhyun nodded. After four months of working straight to the bone, he was ready to slowly settle down, and it elated him to know Chanyeol would be there with him in the process.  
  
“I will… I’ll cut back on my schedules.”  
  
“Good.” Chanyeol gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. “As for the house, we can always go in the summer. Kyungsoo’s very good with up keeping with the property while I’m gone, anyways. How does that sound? To have a summer home until we’re ready to move back there permanently?”  
  
Baekhyun couldn’t speak anymore. “I’d love that, Chanyeol… I’d love that a lot. Thank you.”  
  
“I don’t care about how many compromises I have to make as long as I have you with me, Byun Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said, lowering his head to steal a quick kiss from the corner of the brunette’s lips. “I’m sorry for being an idiot, but I hope you know I love you.”  
  
God damn it. Baekhyun swung an arm around the man’s neck and pulled him completely down, placing his lips firmly against his. “I love you no matter how bitter you are. From my best friend to my husband, I’ll always love you even when you’re being a stubborn idiot, alright?”  
  
“Guess we’re both stubborn idiots sometimes.”  
  
“Yes, we are…”  
  
“But I guess that’s why we’re perfect for each other.”  
  
With lips wobbling, Baekhyun firmly nodded and reached up for another kiss, uncaring for the driver or anyone else who was watching them with curious eyes. The world was standing on its rightful axis again and there was no care in the world.  
  
Standing in that park, in the coldest season yet, Baekhyun found his greatest source of warmth kissing his one and only, Park Chanyeol.


End file.
